STOCK PICKS: Top 5 All-Around for Oct. 7

Each business day, TheStreet.com Ratings compiles a list of the top five stocks in five categories -- fast-growth, all-around value, large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap.

This list is based on data from the close of the previous trading session. Today, all-around-value stocks are in the spotlight. These are stocks of companies that meet a number of criteria, including annual revenue of more than $500 million, lower-than-average valuations such as a price-to-sales ratio of less than 2, and leverage that is less than 49% of total capital.

In addition, they must rank near the top of all stocks rated by our proprietary quantitative model, which looks at more than 60 factors. The stocks must also be followed by at least one financial analyst who posts estimates on the Institutional Brokers' Estimate System. They are ordered by their potential to appreciate.

Note that no provision is made for off-balance-sheet assets such as unrealized appreciation/depreciation of investments, market value of real estate or contingent liabilities that might affect book value. This could be material for some companies with large, underfunded pension plans.

Chevron (CVX) is one of the world's largest integrated energy companies. The company is engaged in every aspect of the oil and natural gas industry, with major operations in many important gas and oil producing regions worldwide.

We have rated Chevron a buy since October 2003. This rating is based in part on the company's strong growth in revenue and earnings, as well as its attractive valuation levels. For the second quarter of fiscal 2008, the company reported revenue growth of 49.0% year over year. This appears to have helped boost earnings per share (EPS), which improved 15.1% over the same quarter a year ago, thus continuing a trend of positive EPS growth over the past two years. Net income increased 11.1%, rising from $5.4 billion to $6.0 billion.

1 2 3 4 5 Next › Last »