SRCL: This Company Will Grow 21% This Year!

Stericycle Inc (SRCL) This Lake Forest, Ill., company collects needles, syringes and other products directly from health care providers. It then treats and disposes of the medical waste in compliance with public safety rules. Stericycle provides the same services for drugs that get returned by hospitals, pharmacies and other dispensers. It also offers to handle the paperwork for the distributors. Long-term investors often find medical stocks appealing because they don't tend to fluctuate based on how the economy is faring. People need to see the doctor, have operations or take drugs regardless of a softening economy. By the same token, hospitals and other health care outfits need to get rid of their waste on a consistent basis. That helps makes disposal service providers like Stericycle a possible long-term play. The company has grown its annual profit for at least the past eight years. Its five-year earnings per share growth rate is 18%, with analysts looking for a 21% jump this year and 17% the next. A key growth strategy is acquisitions. Buying local medical waste managers has helped Stericycle diversify into other countries, including the U.K. and in Latin America. The U.S. made up 77% of 2007 sales, Europe 16% and others 7%. The stock, which cleared a double-bottom base last week in above-average volume, is 4% below its mid-January high. Good Trading!