6 Stocks Trading Well Below Book Values

"Sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand," said Paul Newman as an unbreakable Florida prisoner in the film "Cool Hand Luke." He wasn't talking about stocks, as far as I know. If he had been, he'd have probably meant that sometimes, especially after the market has taken a beating, companies trade for less than what their assets might fetch in a liquidation sale. Pay pennies on the dollar for the assets and you get the parts of the business that can't be carted off and auctioned, for nothing. That includes the growth potential, talent and future dividends.

Right now such companies might make for an especially cool hand. Earnings forecasts underlying the S&P 500 index have plunged 21% since the end of September, and show little sign of reversing. Downward earnings revisions can cause shares of beloved companies with high price/earnings stocks to plunge doubly -- a bit for the reduced earnings, and a bit to deflate the P/E, since the growth prospects have dulled. So little is expected of companies trading below their asset values, though, that lowered earnings forecasts are often met with as many shrugs as sell orders.

There's a catch. Not all companies that are trading below their book values, or the value of their assets beyond what they owe, are bargains. That sort of valuation says something grim about a company, and many deserve their price. Some have big financial obligations that don't show up on their balance sheets, notably underfunded pensions. Some have assets whose value right now is vulnerable to sharp reductions. These include land-rich home builders and banks that have lent to aggressively in recent years.

If you're looking for low price/book companies, best to look for signs of financial strength, too. University of Chicago Professor Joseph Piotroski did just that in a landmark study on the subject published in 2000. He found that strong, low-P/B companies beat the market by 10 percentage points a year over two decades ended 1996.

The companies on the list below trade below their book values. Each is profitable, in decent financial health and pays a dividend.

I held my nose and recommended one of the market's worst long-term performers, Eastman Kodak (EK), when it plunged below $9 in early November. It's below $8 now, but I'm not (yet) ashamed. Kodak has more cash than debt and a giant 7.3% dividend yield, and does anyone else suspect that they sold the dickens out of those digital picture frames during the holidays?

Tyco International (TYC) sells fire and burglar alarms, steel tubes, valves and more. Sales for its year ending September are expected to fall 10% and profits 25%. But Tyco is expected to return to growth next year, and for now generates heaps of free cash. It has used funds of late to repurchase shares and boosts its dividend. Shares yield 3.5%.

Rowan Cos. (RDC) is an offshore driller with a miniscule valuation -- less than five times this year's earnings forecast. The falling price of oil has trimmed profits forecasts, but hasn't wrecked them. Wall Street expects a 5% dip this year and a 7% increase next year. The company's dividend is surely smaller than it should be. Shares yield an easily affordable 2.3%.

Have a look if you like at these and some other names in the table below.