Kate’s guest today on The MarketBeat Podcast is Kirk McDonald, portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management. Today, Kirk has three stocks to discuss, all from different industries with different market caps. He explains why each is a holding in his portfolio, and how investors should evaluate the business case.
At the end of the episode, Kirk shares how listeners can see all his ETF portfolio holdings, to get even more stock ideas
-Kirk’s first stock is Cheniere Energy (LNG ): With Russia cutting off natural gas supplies for Europe, Cheniere is well situated to be a supplier
-The company has the ability to grow its production significantly in the next few years
-Why revenue growth has been increasing since March of 2021, and that looks likely to continue
-For the last decade, Cheniere has been investing in liquefaction facilities, meaning export capacity is increasing, while also increasing cash flow and profit
-The company has been paying down debt rapidly
-Why you should think of Cheniere more like a utility or pipeline, rather than a traditional oil and gas name
-Why the explosive growth phase is just hitting this established company
-The second stock Kirk discusses is Fair Isaac (FICO): The company is expanding rapidly from its existing line of business, the well known FICO score
-Why positive pricing changes, along with the software strategy are helping the company grow revenue
-How lower mortgage applications are affecting earnings estimates, but mortgages are not the bulk of the company’s business
-Increased competition may be coming along, and what risk it presents
-Kirk’s last stock is government contractor ICF International (ICFI), a small cap that is involved in four growing areas in government spending
-Why Kirk expects this company to benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act
-How should investors allocate to smaller companies like ICF? Kirk looks at ways to balance market caps within his portfolio
-How barriers to entry give a company like ICF an edge
How to sign up for the Argent newsletter and learn more about the investment strategies
To see the portfolio holdings and get more stock pick ideas:
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