The coronavirus has already caused a bit of a stir among travel shares, but it's expected to have a wider effect on shares this week.
The usual suspects like gold miners such as Evolution Mining Limited (ASX: EVN) and Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) could rise.
However, I think there's one particular ASX share that could see a higher demand for its products, Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN). We have already seen that surgical face masks have sold out in some US cities despite there only being a small number of cases there.
So what does Ansell sell? It sells gloves, goggles, protective suits, ventilation suits, face masks and so on.
As you can see, many of Ansell's products are probably going to be in high demand over the next few weeks, even if they're not actually utilised.
The company sells its range of products across several brands including HyFlex, Gammex, AlphaTec, Microflex and others. Its products are sold around the world, including in China. In FY19 Chinese growth was 12%, which obviously didn't include the coronavirus-related demand.
In FY19 Ansell's continuing underlying earnings per share (EPS) grew by 9.3%, which is solid considering the age and industry of Ansell.
The company is aiming for organic growth of 3% to 5% with EPS growth of 5% to 10% per year. If Ansell can indeed achieve those numbers then it would be a solid compound returns performer when you add that growth to the dividend returns that it's paying. The current dividend yield is 2.1%.
Foolish takeaway
Ansell is trading at less than 20x FY20's estimated earnings. It seems like a well-priced buy at the current price, even without the coronavirus going on. In early trading the Ansell share price has risen by more than 1%.
