3 Stocks to Play Angelina Jolie's Political Ambitions

Angelina Jolie, the 39-year old American actress and UN human right activist, took the world by surprise when she announced her intentions to quit acting for an active role in politics. Diehard fans and critics who have been following her life, would vouch that an innate desire to bring about a positive change for the cause of humanity could ultimately draw her to the political arena in the long term. However, she herself has refused to give any definite timeline or any path to achieve this objective.

Wondering how this will influence some stocks? The answer is quite simple. Feel free to browse a little further through this piece to know how you can benefit from the strategic decision of this powerful celebrity, who ranks 73rd in the Forbes list of top celebrities.

The Celebrity Stock Index

In a highly volatile market, industry experts have often come up with a seemingly strange or outlandish investment idea to create a cash cow portfolio. One such innovative investment strategy was the creation of the Celebrity Stock Index by Stockerblog.com about seven years ago. It was modeled after the price movement of selected stocks of companies that a celebrity is associated with in some way. For example, the celebrity may be an endorser of various products of the company, or play a lead role in a movie produced by a movie studio company, or a spokesperson for various labels of a company’s product.

The first Celebrity Stock Index was developed on Paris Hilton. Thereafter, numerous other such indexes were developed on various celebrities, including Angelina Jolie, Gisele Bunchen and Eva Longoria. Viewed as one of the world’s most influential celebrities, these indexes were expected to outperform the broader equity market by creating a huge demand for the endorsed products, leveraging on their star power and influence.

The Angelina Jolie Stock Index

The Angelina Jolie Stock Index, created by Fred Fuld of Stockerblog.com, is an assortment of stocks of companies that have produced, distributed or had a connection with any one of her high-budget films. The investment logic was centered on the fact that since her films usually bring in huge box-office revenues, the producer and distributor companies of her movies also should have higher profits.

The companies in this index are:

Company Film

Source: www.stockpickr.com

In 2009, the index gained huge popularity when it outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 8%. This was primarily attributable to her huge success and critical acclaim for the film “The Changeling.” She received four nominations as the Best Actress for this film, including an Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award. To date, Angelina Jolie has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards for her stellar performance in films like "Gia" and "Girl, Interrupted."

The Multi-Faceted Actress

In addition to films, Angelina Jolie actively participated in humanitarian efforts and was named a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (:UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador in 2001. After years of dedicated service and countless field missions to voice her concerns and the plight of refugees, she was appointed as the Special Envoy of UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres. Jolie has since balanced her film career with relief and humanitarian works for the welfare of the society.

At the same time, she has donned the hat of a film director. Her upcoming directorial venture “Unbroken,” in which she also starred with her celebrity husband Brad Pitt, is due for release in coming Christmas. The film has already created a buzz and has reportedly joined the race for an Oscar.

3 Stocks to Ride on Angelina Jolie’s Success

With her second directorial film likely to be a huge box-office success, Jolie recently commented that she might quit acting for a permanent behind-the-screen role. To add it, her latest comment to seek an active role in politics has fanned speculation about her future. Whether these comments are just publicity stunts for her upcoming film or her honest observations about her life’s trajectory has yet to be known. However, all these events are surely going to have an impact on the stocks of companies that are associated with her.

Let’s take a closer look at a handful such stocks with attractive valuation metrics and a favorable Zacks Rank that appear to be well positioned to benefit from the solid sector dynamics as well.

Time Warner Inc. (TWX): Headquartered in New York, Time Warner is a premier global media and entertainment firm, offering high-quality content on a multi-platform basis. These include television networks, digital media, film and TV entertainment.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock’s earnings for the current year has moved up 4.3% in the last 30 days. With a forward PE of 20.4x and long-term earnings growth expectations of 12.9%, Time Warner is a solid pick.

Comcast Corporation (CMCSA): Headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, Comcast is a global media and technology company. The Cable division of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock is the largest video and high-speed Internet service provider to residential customers in the country.

Comcast’s Universal Studio is the distributor of Angelina Jolie’s upcoming film “Unbroken.” The company has long-term earnings growth expectation of 11.9% and is currently trading at a forward PE of 19.3x.

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (LGF): Headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, this Zacks Rank #3 stock has a strong presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, digital distribution, new channel platforms and international distribution and sales.

Lions Gate has long-term earnings growth expectation of 17.5% and is currently trading at a forward PE of 21.6x.

Moving Forward

By her own submission, Angelina Jolie remarked: "I want to help to make change." Time and again, she has proved to be the crusader of humanitarian works and other welfare causes. Whether she will take a giant leap into politics has yet to be seen. No matter what she does as her next career move, these stocks are likely to ride high on her success.

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