Zacks Investment Ideas Feature Highlights: Gafisa SA, CPFL Energia, Petroleo Brasileiro, AMBEV and Ultrapar Holdings

CHICAGO, Feb. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Zacks Investment Ideas feature highlights Features: Gafisa SA (NYSE: GFA), CPFL Energia (NYSE: CPL), Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR), AMBEV (NYSE: ABV) and Ultrapar Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UGP).

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Top Brazilian Stocks

Mention Brazilian stocks, and most people think about high fliers trading at multi-year highs with nose-bleed valuations. But in spite of Brazil's growing economic profile, its leading equity index, the Bovespa, is actually trading in the red for the year.

Brazil Looking Strong

Although it would be easy to assign that downward pressure to slowing growth, its actually just the opposite. Brazil is growing so quickly that signs of inflation have begun to pop up in its economy, which has forced the country's Central Bank to tap the brakes and raise interest rates.

No doubt that will present many unique challenges as Brazil continues to learn how to manage its growth. But in the short run, it offers an opportunity to buy a number of very strong names in the category that are trading well of their high or with a very attractive valuation. Let's go ahead and take a look at some of our favorite Brazilian stocks.

Top 8 Brazilian Stocks

Gafisa SA (NYSE: GFA) is a Brazilian home builder with a market cap of $2.73 billion. This Zacks #3 rank stock is trading well off its all-time high from November and offers a highly discounted forward P/E of just 8X.

CPFL Energia (NYSE: CPL) is an electric utility with a market cap of $12 billion. This Zacks #3 rank stock is trading near a recent high, but the valuation picture is well in check with a forward P/E of 13.5X, in line with the industry average. It also offers a fat 7.7% dividend yield.

Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR) is one of the world's largest energy companies with a market cap of $242 billion. Struggling with some funding issues over the last year, this Zacks #3 rank's $37 share price is well below its all-time high above $75. The valuation picture is in check too, with a forward P/E of 11.5X.

AMBEV (NYSE: ABV) sells regular and alcoholic beverages with a market cap of $84 billion. I'm not sure this is a huge value play, but this Zacks #3 rank stock just split its share price 5-for-1, so at the very least this is an opportunity for some of the smaller accounts of the world to grab a reasonable allocation to a company with a strong consumer presence in a leading emerging market.

Ultrapar Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UGP) distributes liquefied petroleum gas and lubricants and has a market cap of $8.2 billion. This Zacks #2 rank stock recently pulled back from its high and offers great value, trading with a forward P/E of 15.5X, a nice discount to its peer average of 18.5X.

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