3 Royal Wedding Stocks Worth a Look

I fail to grasp the global medias obsession with the Royal Wedding planned for
Friday. But all that global media attention means money will be made and that
investors have a chance to profit from it. It looks to me as though a
substantial Royal Wedding Industrial Complex (RWIC) has emerged in the last
several weeks. The Gazette estimates that the RWIC consisting of related
airlines, hotels, restaurants, and retailing is worth $1 billion to $1.5
billion in revenue   fueled by a 120% increase in the number of tourists
visiting London. Although the wedding will require an additional $30 million in
security, the U.K. economy will probably make a profit although it will be tiny
when related to its $2.2 trillion economy.  Here are three publicly traded
companies that are trying to get a piece of the RWIC action: General Mills
(NYSE: GIS ), whose Betty Crocker unit is offering recipes for versions of the
bride's and groom's wedding cakes; according to the New York Times . Papa
Johns International (NASDAQ: PZZA ) is selling a pizza in the
U.K. that portrays the brides and grooms faces; and Discovery Communications
(NASDAQ: DISCA ) is offering 89 hours of programming with royal themes through
its TLC Network. None of these companies is likely to gain a market-moving bump
in profit from the royal wedding, so we need a different way to judge them. For
that, lets look at their recent financial performance and whether their stock is
reasonably priced. For that, we examine their price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG)
ratio (that compares a stocks P/E ratio to its earnings growth rate) a PEG of
1.0 looks reasonably priced to me. Heres my analysis of these three RWIC
companies based, ranked by PEG: Papa Johns 0.9 . In the last year, the company
generated $1.1 billion in revenue and $52 million in net income. It trades at a
P/E of 15.3 and its earnings are expected to grow 17% to $2.44 a share in 2012 .
Its co-CEO recently departed that seems like a caution signal to me. Discovery
Communications 1.37 . In the last year, the company generated $3.8 billion in
revenue and $630 million in net income. It trades at a P/E of 28.8 and its
earnings are expected to grow 21% to $2.71 a share in 2012 . General Mills 1.91
. In the last year, the company generated $14.8 billion in revenue and $1.7
billion in net income. It trades at a P/E of 15.3 and its earnings are expected
to grow 8% to $2.68 a share in 2012 . Its worth noting that General Mills is the
subject of speculation that Nestle will acquire it. While Papa Johns looks
appetizing on a PEG basis, its management turnover suggests it might be wise to
avoid it. And unless General Mills gets acquired, it looks pretty pricey. Of the
three, that leaves Discovery Communications as the best way to tap the RWIC that
will go into hibernation Saturday probably not to revive for another 30 years.
Peter Cohan has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.