Jeff Saut's Favorite Investment Ideas

Market strategist Jeff Saut's latest commentary is out and he focuses on some of his favorite investment ideas. They are:

Wiliams Companies (WMB): He writes that, "Our bullish thesis on Williams is supported by three main points: (1) we believe the company's E&P assets will garner a higher valuation in the market place as a stand-alone entity when the company splits itself into two parts; (2) we believe the market is undervaluing Williams' ownership of the Williams Partner GP, and (3) we expect strong growth from the Canadian midstream assets."

Market Folly readers will recall that Dan Loeb's Third Point outlined this exact WMB thesis as well, as the stock seems to be a hedge-fund-favorite.


Clayton Williams (CWEI): Saut notes, "What does set Clayton Williams apart from the rest of the group is its highly oil-weighted production profile (74%), growing position in high-return oil plays (namely the Permian and Delaware Basin), and cheap valuation. Raymond James Analyst John Freeman last week reiterated his Outperform rating on Clayton Williams and stated that he viewed any pressure in the stock as a buying opportunity."

In his commentary, Saut also explains the rationale behind bullishness on shares of Iberiabank (IBKC), and Equinix (EQIX).

He also points out some of the latest hedge fund moves from 13F filings. While he notes that HCA Holdings (HCA) was one of the largest new buys in the past quarter, he fails to mention that it was because the company had its initial public offering. To see what hedge funds have been buying, we of course point you the new 91-page issue of our Hedge Fund Wisdom newsletter.

For Saut's favorite stocks, you can download a .pdf copy here.

Strategist Saut: Accumulate Stocks With Favorable Risk/Reward

Raymond James market strategist Jeff Saut is out with his latest weekly missive and it's quite clear he's bullish in the intermediate term. However, he does think a consolidation could still happen in the near-term.

In particular, Saut points to oil:

"Indeed, over the past few weeks oil has become almost as extended above its 200 day moving average as it was in July 2008, and we all know how that ended. Not that I am predicting a similar collapse in the price of Texas Tea, but rather that a consolidation/pullback period is likely, which could provide the backdrop for another 'leg up' in stocks (even the energy stocks)."

Overall, Saut thinks any pullback in the S&P 500 will be around the 1315-1320 area. Saut was buying stocks during the February/March decline and it seems he has a 'buy the dips' mentality.

So what stocks does he like? Saut prefers favorable risk/reward setups and offers up Hospira (HSP) as a name with a lowered risk profile. He also continues to like Williams Companies (WMB). We just noted that Dan Loeb's hedge fund Third Point LLC likes WMB as well. You can read an in-depth analysis of Williams Companies in the most recent issue of our newsletter.

In other energy names, the market strategist also likes EV Energy Partners (EVEP), LINN Energy (LINE), and Clayton Williams Energy (CWEI).

Embedded below is Jeff Saut's latest market commentary:

Jeff-Saut-Market-Commentary


You can download a .pdf copy here.

For more insight from market strategists, head to our recent coverage of Don Coxe, who says the risk of a stagflationary bond bear has arrived.