There are no safe havens in the stock market. Every stock carries risk. But some less than others. This column features stocks that have shown one or more of the following characteristics: less volatility, better earnings, larger market caps, safe and increasing dividends. In these times of turmoil, our goal is to show readers better opportunities for investing with fewer risks.

January 24, 2011 - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. (TEVA-NASDAQ) engages in the development, production, and sale of a range of generic and branded pharmaceuticals, biogenerics, and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) worldwide. The company's principal products include Copaxone for multiple sclerosis; and Azilect for Parkinson's disease.

In addition, it offers APIs for respiratory, cardiovascular, anti-cholesterol, central nervous system, dermatological, hormones, anti-inflammatory, oncology, immunosuppressants, and muscle relaxants. Further, the company provides women's health care products, such as oral contraceptives, intrauterine contraception, and hormone therapy treatments for menopause/perimenopause, as well as therapies for use in infertility and urinary incontinence.

It also holds a biotechnology platform focused on the development of peptide and protein-based medicines. Teva Pharmaceutical has cooperation agreements with Kowa Company, Ltd.; Lonza Group Ltd.; H. Lundbeck A/S; Impax Laboratories, Inc.; Anchen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Sanofi-Aventis; OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals; MediWound Ltd.; and Polyheal Ltd. The company was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Petach Tikva, Israel.

Teva makes generic and proprietary drugs with about 85% of sales coming from North America and Europe. Revenues have increased dramatically over the last 4 years, going from $9.408 billion in 2007 to a forecasted $16.350 billion for just finished 2010. Earnings followed suit.

They should be $4.57 for 2010, according to a consensus from 27 analysts. That's up from $3.37 a share last year. They see $5.30 in 2011. Earnings have been higher every year since the company went public in 2000 when they started at 28 cents a share.

Acquisitions are part of Teva's growth plan. In 2004, it bought Sicor, in 2006 IVAX. Then in 2008, it purchased Barr. Now it has its sites onTheramax, a European women's health business. It will give Teva more product diversification and access to key markets in Europe. More growth will come from building on one of its strengths: the respiratory drug market. It's goal is to have 10 respiratory products in the U.S. and Europe (6 of them new) by 2015 which should add another $2.4 billion to sales.

Part of Teva's appeal is its strong balance sheet. Debt occupies only 18% of it. There's almost $1 billion in cash in the bank. Cash flow is strong (operating cash flow) at $3.99 billion.

More numbers: Trailing P/E is 16.20; Forward P/E is 9.93. Price to sales ratio is 3.06. Price to book is 2.19. Book value is $24.10. Operating margin for the last 12 months was 26.79% while Profit margin was 18.95%. Return on equity was 14.36% and Return on assets was 7.18%. Total cash is $956 million or $1.06 a share. Total debt is $7.15 billion. Current ratio is 1.27. There are 899 million shares outstanding with a Float of 863.2 million. Insiders own about 4% of the stock. The dividend is 70 cents a share for a yield of 1.4%. The payout is 19% of earnings. The last dividend was paid on December 5.

If you look at a price chart of TEVA, you can see the stock hasn't traded up or down very much in the last 2 years. The concern over a competitor to Copaxone is most likely the reason. Investors don't like uncertainty, especially when it's over the strongest seller in the product portfolio. But whenever a new drug comes to challenge Copaxone, it won't be soon. In the meantime, new drugs are being developed and coming to market. And more companies will be bought.

- Company Web site: www.tevapharm.com

- Ted Allrich