7 Valuation-Based Contrarian Picks

How can a consensus be identified when everyone claims to be different? Who isn't a contrarian or a value investor today?

Even though Jim Cramer's trades are not long-term recommendations, his picks can be a very useful barometer of investor and media attitudes. Contrarians can use his picks as an indicator of current market sentiment to selectively counter.

Of Cramer's 91 buy and sell stock opinions recently issued on CNBC's Mad Money (3.26.2012 to 3.30.2012), three sell calls and four buy calls can be challenged on a valuation basis. Weyerhaeuser (WY), Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Red Hat (RHT), and TIBCO Software (TIBX) are too richly valued to be buy picks. On the other hand, Kohl's (KSS), Corning (GLW), and CSX Corp. (CSX) are too cheaply valued to be sell picks.

These picks are summarized below:

Ticker	Cramer's Call	Airdate	P/E	P/B	P/S
WY	Buy	3.26.2012	37.15	2.76	1.89
CMG	Buy	3.27.2012	61.83	12.51	5.76
KSS	Sell	3.27.2012	11.45	1.9	0.65
GLW	Sell	3.28.2012	7.95	1.01	2.72
RHT	Buy	3.29.2012	82.04	8.27	10.7
CSX	Sell	3.29.2012	12.89	2.67	1.93
TIBX	Buy	3.30.2012	46.92	5.98	5.55

After reviewing the price multiples of WY, CMG, RHT, and TIBX it is clear that these stocks are richly valued according to static valuation metrics. Net insider selling of 9.9% over the past six months is also discouraging for RHT.

Sadly, even pleasant future growth scenarios are not much consolation for such richly valued stocks. What could an investor expect from these picks?

Total returns were calculated over a three year holding period for each of these stocks. (I use a 3-year holding period since above-average growth estimates are not reliable further out.) Giving these buy recommendations the benefit of the doubt, each stock is assumed to be sold at a generous growth stock price-to-earnings multiple of 17 and the maximum of historical and analyst estimate values for earnings growth are assumed. These assumptions are used to project an annualized total return over the next three years and a terminal price to earnings ratios, that is, price paid today divided by earnings at the end of the holding period for each stock:

				3 Years Growth
Ticker	Cramer	g (past)	g (future)	Terminal P/E	Annualized Return
WY	Buy	-15.2%	4.3%	32.8	-18.9%
CMG	Buy	39.6%	23.9%	22.7	-9.2%
RHT	Buy	5.9%	18.6%	49.1	-29.8%
TIBX	Buy	14.2%	14.3%	31.4	-18.5%

Even after incorporating optimistic earnings growth, these stocks are just too expensive.

Alternatively, KSS, GLW, and CSX were discovered as contrarian buy picks with attractive valuations by sifting through the week's sell recommendations. These contrarian buy candidates were evaluated using conservative assumptions. A bargain value stock price to earnings multiple of 10 and the lesser of historical and analyst estimates values for earnings growth are assumed. These assumptions are used to project an annualized total return over the next three years and a terminal price to earnings ratio, that is, price paid today divided by earnings at the end of the holding period for each stock:

				3 Years Growth
Ticker	Cramer	g (past)	g (future)	Terminal P/E	Annualized Return
KSS	Sell	5.4%	13.3%	9.8	1.6%
GLW	Sell	8.8%	2.9%	7.3	11.8%
CSX	Sell	12.2%	10.9%	9.5	2.6%

The attractive valuations of these stocks protect investors from tough scenarios, providing them with better odds for positive returns.

These projected returns flip the script on these seven stock calls. They ignore stories and current sentiment while using valuation and math to demonstrate how buying expensive stocks can cost investors dearly.

Bear in mind that contrarians have to shut out the allure of stories, interviews in the financial media, and other distractions in order to focus on valuation. Challenging the consensus is quite difficult and requires guts of steel.

Read the article disclaimer.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.