It’s time for investors to get back into British pharmaceutical company GSK , according to investor Sarat Sethi. He has been adding to the stock that was known as GlaxoSmithKline since buying it a couple months ago, Sethi told the panel on CNBC’s ” Halftime Report ” on Monday. “Glaxo’s pipeline of vaccines is huge. And really, it was completely discounted to zero during Covid, because everybody was just focused on getting the right Covid vaccine,” said the portfolio manager at Douglas C. Lane & Associates. “So, at this point, you look at the stock, trades at 10 times earnings, it’s got a 4% dividend yield, they spun off [oral health company] Haleon, it’s a pure play in the pharma group, and it’s been unloved for a long time,” he added. GSK shares have notably underperformed this year. While the S & P 500 has rallied more than 7% since the start of 2023, GSK shares are just slightly higher for the year, up 0.6%. They underperformed the broader market index last year as well, falling more than 21% in 2022. Hightower’s Stephanie Link approved of the buy, saying that GSK has a “great story.” However, the strategist broadly held a more negative outlook on health care, saying she is underweight the sector after its outperformance last year. “There are some wonderful companies,” Link said. “I think you just have to be more selective this year, because I just think that a lot — these stocks have moved a lot and they really have held up remarkably well. And I think you’re gonna have a reversion right into some of the other sectors.” Meanwhile, Virtus Investment Partners’ Joe Terranova mentioned Moderna as a pick favored by investor Steve Weiss . He said, “If you were waiting to buy Moderna, this is a spot that you would step in and buy it. Why? Because your risk is defined and it’s very low risk.” However, Terranova clarified that he himself had liquidated his position in the stock in October.
