It’s hard to even think about being a net buyer of shares of a stock that’s been dragging its feet for multiple years. Undoubtedly, industry pressures and unique idiosyncratic challenges can be enough to cause any investors to give up on a name.
Though turnaround plans, strategic initiatives, and hope for a macro turnaround may be reasons to give a stock the benefit of the doubt, a name that’s stuck can often stay in a rut for many years on end. Indeed, value traps can be dangerous if you’re not keeping tabs on a firm, especially if management has a track record that’s anything less than stellar.
In this piece, we’ll look at a long-time laggard that I believe is of great value at the time of writing. The stock may have been a bit of a value trap in the past. However, moving forward, I view the risk/reward tradeoff as incredibly compelling for investors willing to stick things out for at least four to five years.
Like value? Check out the energy stocks in the second half!
Indeed, the midstream energy scene hasn’t been a super popular place to invest in in recent years. Undoubtedly, wind and solar energy that’s green and clean seems to be the future. That said, the transition is going to take some time. Even once many firms go green, many others will likely still be dependent on fossil fuels.
Should the U.S. presidential election go the way of Donald Trump and his vice president J.D. Vance, perhaps energy stocks will get a shot in the arm again as green energy plays look to play more of a supporting act. Either way, I think investors shouldn’t dismiss the old-school energy plays just yet, especially if the U.S. election goes their way later this year.
TC Energy stock: A great midstream play on the cheap
In this piece, we’ll check out shares of TC Energy (TSX:TRP), an oversold stock that looks absurdly mispriced at $57 and change. Today, shares are still down around 25% from their highs hit all the way back in the first quarter of 2020. Though shares nearly recovered in early 2022, when energy stocks had their moment in the sun, TRP stock eventually shed all of the gains it enjoyed in 2021 in the following quarters.
Today, TRP stock is pretty much where it was trading 10 years ago. Of course, that’s not considering dividends paid. Regardless, those are some pretty weak results from a former dividend darling. With a 6.81% dividend yield and a modest 21.87 times trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, I view TRP stock as intriguing as we move further into the second half of 2024.
Further, Barclays recently upgraded TRP stock to overweight from equal weight to go with a $6 price target hike (from $55 to $61 per share). Why the big upgrade from the bank?
Barclays sees TC Energy as “uniquely positioned” for what it views as “an evolving energy landscape.” I think Barclays is right to be bullish on TRP stock at these depressed levels. With a huge dividend and recovery potential, perhaps it’s time to take a contrarian position in the name while it’s still on sale.
