That's made mining and energy stocks popular bets on the flaccid greenback -- but also kind of a crowded trade these days. For an alternative, longer-term wager on a weak dollar (and emerging-market growth), consumer products stalwart Colgate-Palmolive (CL) looks good.
Americans know Colgate for its eponymous toothpaste and dish soap, but about 80% of the world's biggest toothpaste maker's revenue comes from overseas. The weak dollar boosts Colgate's top-line results. Also appealing is that it derives so much of its foreign growth from fast-growing economies in Asia and Latin America.
Historically, Colgate has also been very kind to buy-and-hold investors. Over the past 25 years, those folks have enjoyed a total return of more than 5,200%. The S&P 500 ($INX), by comparison, returned a bit more than 1,125% over the same time.
True, Colgate's stock could be more favorable on a relative valuation basis, but by certain metrics, its attractive. By forward earnings, shares offer discounts of about 10% to the broader market and their own five-year average, according to Thomson Reuters. By price/earnings-to-growth (or PEG, which measures how fast a stock is rising relative to its growth prospects) the stock trades at about a 10% discount to the S&P.
Analysts' average price target stands at $86.13 a share. Add in the 2.2% dividend yield and you get an implied upside of more than 8% in the next 12 months or so. That's not too shabby for a well-run company poised to benefit from a weak dollar and some of the fastest growing economies in the world.
