"I was shopping around for a decent Mid-Cap Healthcare stock. I found a list of 11 from Jim Cramer's "The Street.com" and then I picked the one on that list that I liked best. That stock is ICON PLC, (Symbol ICLR)"

Dow Jones Industrial Average 18,019.35 (UP) Week ending 02-13-2015
Dow Jones Industrial Average 18,140.44 (UP) Week ending 02-20-2015

As time passes by, I find myself more and more going to the website of TheStreet.com to find the most accurate and up to date financial information about stocks. So it was no surprise that when I did a Google search for the best Mid Cap Healthcare stocks for 2015, that Jim Cramer's, (Co-Founder), The Street.com popped up to the top of the list with an article with not 1 or 2 but actually 11 different stocks.  The Street.com article on Midcap Healthcare Stocks .   

Nobody works harder to bring more information to light for us retail investors than Jim Cramer. Hands down, the best.

 Really, if you can't find anything to buy you can always lean on Cramer Fav's ,  Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) or Kinder Morgan (KMI) as an anchor in your portfolio.

So which stock did I like the best from The Street's list of Mid Cap Healthcare stocks?

ICON PLC. (Symbol, ICLR, $60.31) is my Oscar winner from the list.

ICON public limited company has a market capitalization of $3.6 Billion.  In general "MID CAP" stocks have a market capitalization of 2 to 10 Billion. Stocks in this area are usually done with all their start-up hiccups and are growing pretty good at this point. Kind of a sweet spot in the growth cycle with more limited risk than the Small Cap's and start ups.

The company has a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a Return on Equity listed at 16.34 in one place and 13.21 in another place, so somewhere in that area. I believe that the company will be reporting earnings on 02-25-15 next week. The IDB earnings rating on the stock is 84th percentile and Zack's has is rated a #1 Strong Buy. The Street.com ranks it an "A".

The 3 year sales growth for the company has been 18% per year. This Dublin , Ireland based provider of contract development services for the pharmaceutical industry has Zero Long Term debt. The company operates at a gross margin of 33.2% and has 61.6 Million Shares outstanding.

  Earnings per share for 2015 are projected at $2.77 per share and for 2016 they look like $3.22 per share with a forward PE of 17.92.

The 1 Year trailing 12 months stock appreciation has been 23.84% and the YTD appreciation is 17.69% so this has been a mover and shaker. The stock is held in institution mutual funds to the tune of 88.9%. 

 So if you are like me and need to add something Mid Cap in your portfolio and also is in the Healthcare area, then ICON PLC , (ICLR is the stock symbol), may be just the ticket for you. 



As always , come in small, (with the the DOW at this high 18,140 level), and buy 25 shares at a time and build a position that fits your comfort level and finds a balance with your other investments. 

Good Luck with all your investments!  

Freewilly

"Time Warner Inc., (Symbol, TWX), has been spinning out non-strategic assets for years. What you have left now is the Filet Mignon of prime media properties"

Dow Jones Industrial Average 17,416.85 (UP) Week ending 01-30-2015
Dow Jones Industrial Average 17,824.00  (UP) Week ending 02-06-2015

Time Warner Inc. (Symbol TWX, $80.38) has been on a mission to hone its assets down to the very best of  media content. Time Warner the 2nd largest media company in the world is essentially made up of Turner Broadcasting, HBO, and Warner Brothers Entertainment's, 3 divisions. 

 The company has a PEG Ratio of 1.38 and a Return on Equity of 16.20%. The current PE on the company is 17.4 It also sports a Dividend yield of 1.6%.   The company will report earnings this week on 2/11/2015.

Speaking of earnings, the EPS growth last quarter was 34%. The EPS % gain for the year is  14%. The 3-5 year growth rate is 14.8%.  Earnings for 2015 are projected at $4.10 per share and for 2016 are looking like $4.66 per share.

Analysts love the stock with 22 Buy recommendations, 3 Outperform, and 8 Hold. The company operate at a 72.50% Gross Margin. Content is King!. Insiders purchasing is all positive.  

What about the price of the stock? In 3 years it has moved from $35.00 per share to $80.00 per share. The One year change in the stock TTM, (Trailing 12 months) has been 31.20 % and the 3 year Total return has been 111.69%.   

This is a good long term investment to add to your portfolio. As always buy in small and build a position over time. I also like content providers Disney, (Symbol DIS),  and LionsGate Entertainment, (Symbol LGF), which is a little higher beta, (more speculative), in the media content provider area.  

         

Freewilly says, to quote a famous Warner Bros. Pig and Duck, "That's All Folks!"