Insurance
and healthcare revival |
Insurance and healthcare revival: Kiln
Weaver's focus on out-of-favor industries delivered solid
returns.
When Kila Weaver, senior managing director and financial analyst
at Capital Management Group Securities, spoke to BLACK ENTERPRISE
last year, she was focused on small and mid-cap firms in the
financial services and healthcare industries. She explained
that there were stocks in these sectors that had great potential
for price increases and earnings growth.One year later, Weaver's
words ring true. Her portfolio of stocks posted a 19.68% return
during the 52-week period from Feb. 13, 2004 to Feb. 11, 2005.
"Overall we did all right," says Weaver of the portfolio's
performance.
"It's a good idea to look at industries where the fundamentals
are sound, but some sectors are out of favor. That's especially
true of insurance and healthcare, which, for several years,
were not as attractive among investors as some other sectors."With
the number of older Americans on the rise and vast numbers
of Americans with health problems, Weaver says the healthcare
sector is an attractive one. "I still stand by what I
said last year in that the healthcare sector is going to remain
a solid investment opportunity for U.S. investors simply because
of the fundamentals and the demographics.
That's not going to change."Weaver's best performer was
DaVita Inc. (NYSE: DVA), a provider of dialysis and related
services for patients with chronic kidney disease. The stock
raced to a 45.51% gain, increasing from $29.93 to $43.55 a
share. "In the healthcare industry you can find little
gems, and DaVita is definitely one of them," says Weaver.
"The company had some regulatory issues and that made
investors shy about buying the stock, but those problems proved
to be immaterial."
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