4 Stock Picks for a ‘Buy and Hold’ Approach

The GuruFocus business predictability rating ranks companies on a five-star scale, defining the more predictable companies as businesses whose revenue per share and Ebitda per share have been growing steadily and who have produced a strong long-term performance of their stock prices.

Thus, those following an investment strategy based on a “buy and hold” approach could find attractive investing opportunities by screening for stocks that have a high GuruFocus business predictability rating, in my opinion.

Crown Castle International Corp

The first company that matches the criteria is Crown Castle International Corp (

CCI, Financial), a Houston-based provider of infrastructure for shared communications.

Crown Castle International Corp’s business has a three-star rating for its predictability. The company saw its revenue per share increase by 7.60% and its Ebitda per share increase by 10.10% on average every year over the past 10 years.

The share price ($175.06 at close on Tuesday) is currently about four times its level of 10 years ago. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.66 billion.

GuruFocus assigned a financial strength rating of 3 out of 10 and a profitability rating of 8 out of 10 to the company.

The price-earnings ratio is 71.45 versus the industry median of 20.32, the enterprise-value-to-Ebitda ratio is 29.81 versus the industry median of 20.49 and the price-sales ratio is 12.52 versus the industry median of 8.38.

Wall Street sell-side analysts recommend a median rating of overweight for the stock with an average target price of $202.58 per share.

Sherwin-Williams Co

The second company that meets the criteria is Sherwin-Williams Co (

SHW, Financial), a Cleveland, Ohio-based manufacturer and global seller of specialty chemicals, such as paints and coatings, to retail and professional customers.

Sherwin-Williams Co’s business has a five-star business predictability rank. The company saw its revenue per share increase by 11.20% and its Ebitda per share increase by 15.90% on average every year over the past 10 years.

The share price ($279.62 at close on Tuesday) represents a more than 11-fold increase from 10 years ago. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.62 billion.

GuruFocus assigned a financial strength rating of 4 out of 10 and a profitability rating of 9 out of 10 to the company.

The price-earnings ratio is 35.08 versus the industry median of 20.06, the enterprise-value-to-Ebitda ratio is 23.23 versus the industry median of 12.23 and the price-sales ratio is 3.87 versus the industry median of 1.68.

Wall Street sell-side analysts recommend a median rating of overweight for this stock and have established an average target price of about $315.24 per share.

Edwards Lifesciences Corp

The third company that meets the criteria is Edwards Lifesciences Corp (

EW, Financial), an Irvine, California-based manufacturer of medical devices.

Edwards Lifesciences Corp’s business has a four-star business predictability rank. The company saw its revenue per share increase by 13.70% and its Ebitda per share increase by 15.10% on average every year over the past 10 years.

The current share price ($113.86 at close on Tuesday) has increased by almost 10 times over the past 10 years, determining a market capitalization of $70.97 billion.

GuruFocus assigned a financial strength rating of 8 out of 10 and a profitability rating of 9 out of 10 to the company.

The price-earnings ratio is 48.87 versus the industry median of 32.31, the enterprise-value-to-Ebitda ratio is 54.42 versus the industry median of 21.3 and the price-sales ratio is 14.64 versus the industry median of 5.74.

Wall Street sell-side analysts recommend a median rating of overweight for the stock with an average target price of $121.67 per share.

Moody’s Corporation

The fourth company that meets the criteria is Moody’s Corporation (

MCO, Financial), a New York-based popular credit ratings agency.

Moody’s Corporation’s business has a five-star business predictability rank. The company saw its revenue per share increase by 12.30% and its Ebitda per share increase by 13.30% on average every year over the past 10 years.

The current share price ($355.49 at close on Tuesday) has increased by almost 12 times over the past 10 years, determining a market capitalization of $66.19 billion.

GuruFocus assigned a financial strength rating of 5 out of 10 and a profitability rating of 9 out of 10 to the company.

The price-earnings ratio is 32.03 versus the industry median of 14.15, the enterprise-value-to-Ebitda ratio is 22.96 versus the industry median of 9.39 and the price-sales ratio is 11.57 versus the industry median of 4.

Wall Street sell-side analysts recommend a median rating of overweight for the stock with an average target price of $407.58 per share.

Disclosure: I have no position in any security mentioned.