Top 5 Cheapest Stocks To Buy For 2015

Top 5 Cheapest Stocks To Buy For 2015: Avon Products Inc. (AVP)

Avon Products Inc. manufactures and markets beauty and related products worldwide. Its product categories include color cosmetics, fragrances, skin care, and personal care; fashion jewelry, watches, apparel, footwear, and accessories; and gift and decorative products, housewares, entertainment and leisure, and children?s and nutritional products. Avon Products Inc. markets its products through direct selling and independent representatives, as well as through distributorships. The company was founded in 1886 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Vera Yuan]

  We bought relatively small new positions in Willis Group Holdings and Avon Products in the third quarter. Willis (WSH) is a leading global insurance broker. We have followed this attractive industry for many years through investments in Aon, Brown & Brown and others (including Willis under prior management). Organic revenue growth has been solid, and Willis has a near-term opportunity to expand margins through expense initiatives and restructuring savings that are likely to kick in next year. We think the stock should be revalued higher once management follows through on its pledged cost discipline and drives operating leverage. Avon (AVP) is a direct selling, branded beauty business undergoing a turnaround in the U.S. market. The overwhelming majority of Avons business value comes from its stronger positions in Latin America and other emerging markets. Our investment thesis is that well-run direct selling can be a decent business with solid margins and high returns , that the Avon brand is not fundamentally broken, and that the U.S. business is bottoming as evidenced by break-even results in the most recent quarter. Avon has a wider range of potential outcomes than our typical investment and is sized accordingly.

• [By Grace L. Williams]

  You don’t have to go door to door to find dismal n! ews about Avon (AVP) today. Between the stock tanking over 20% and the companys announcements of a weak third-quarter topped with news that federal regulators are increasing the penalties to resolve its ongoing bribery probe, its one ugly afternoon for the beauty product and cosmetics company.

  The Wall Street Journals Serena Ng and Anna Prior recapped Avons woes nicely this afternoon:

  The government’s position, disclosed by Avon in a regulatory filing, adds another big weight on a company already struggling to turn around a string of poor results. On Thursday, the door-to-door seller of makeup and consumer products reported a third-quarter loss following a steep drop in sales in the U.S. and China.

  Regarding the bribery probe, the WSJ writes:

  Avon has been trying to resolve a federal bribery probe that has dogged it since 2008 and has already racked up roughly $340 million in legal and related costs. The company is in talks with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department to settle an investigation into whether Avon breached the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by providing gifts or making payments to officials in China and other countries to get licenses to sell its products.

  Analysts were mixed-to-negative in reaction to the news, revising their recommendations and slashing price targets. Rommel Dionisio of Wedbush, for one, cut the price target to $21 from $24, writing:

  Avon reported third-quarter revenue of $2.323 billion and adjusted earnings-per-share of 14 cents, again short of consensus forecasts of $2.443 billion and 19 cents, respectively. Overall local currency sales fell 1%, sequentially worse than the 2% growth seen in the second quarter, as sharp declines in North America (18%) and Asia-Pacific (19%) were partially offset by growth in Latin America (6%).

  We believe shares of Avon should trade at a 5%-10% disc

• [By Maxx Chatsko]

  Good news for deep-sea sharks: Synthetic biology pioneer Amyris (NAS! DAQ: AMRS!   ) has engineered yeast to create the hydrocarbon farnesene, which can then be processed into large amounts of high-quality squalane. The emollient is naturally produced by your skin to prevent moisture loss; thus, it's an important ingredient for numerous global cosmetic brands offering skincare lotions, hair care creams, hand washes, lipsticks, and various other personal-care products. In fact, you may have used a product containing squalane today. SeveralAvon (NYSE: AVP  ) products, the St. Ives brand from Unilever (NYSE: UN  ) , the Cover Girl and Olay brands from Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG  ) , the Nivea brand from Beiersdorf, the Dial brand from Henkel, the Aveeno and Johnsons brands from Johnson & Johnson, and many others list squalane as an ingredient.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Big Earnings Movers: Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) is up 0.3% at $81.06 on good earnings. Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) is up 2.6% at $50.26 on another good report. Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) is up 1% at $89.70. Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) is down 21.6% at $17.56 after a very poor showing.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-5-cheapest-stocks-to-buy-for-2015.html