The search for the next great eurostars
Europe's economies may be growing slowly, but its markets are heading for a fourth year of double-digit increases. We found six promising stocks. By Nelson D. Schwartz, Fortune senior writer
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Royal Philips Electronics
The Dutch consumer-electronics giant is in turnaround mode.
Royal Philips Electronics
NYSE: PHG
Price: $37
52-week low: $27
52-week high: $38
P/E ratio: 7
Yield: 1.2%

Our last pick, Royal Philips Electronics, is well known as a maker of consumer products like Norelco shavers, light bulbs (the British royal family recently asked Philips to light Buckingham Palace with its low-energy bulbs) and medical devices such as CT scanners. But on Wall Street, says Franklin's Brugere, analysts have tended to focus on the company's huge but low-margin semiconductor business.

Now in the midst of a turnaround, Philips agreed in August to sell 80% of the chip business to private-equity buyers for more than $10 billion, freeing up cash for higher-margin divisions such as medical devices, as well as an aggressive stock-buyback program. With this transaction, says Brugere, "volatility has been reduced, multiple expansion is taking place, and management is doing what it has promised in terms of restructuring." Wall Street has taken notice: Philips shares have rallied since the August deal, rising from $30 to more than $37, and the company has boosted its multiple to roughly 22 times 2007 earnings. Even so, says Brugere, there's still an upside of 20% as this Dutch giant cuts costs, drives shareholder returns, reallocates capital, and earns new respect from the Street.
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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.