What Should We Expect From Barclays PLC, Direct Line Insurance Group PLC And Taylor Wimpey plc Results Tomorrow?

Will Barclays PLC (LON: BARC), Direct Line Insurance Group PLC (LON: DLG) and Taylor Wimpey plc (LON: TW) be reporting great results?

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As we get into March, we’ve got some potentially tasty full-year results coming up — with three key ones on 1 March itself.

After Lloyds Banking Group pleased investors with its much-expected dividend, plus an extra unexpected special payment, will Barclays (LSE: BARC) do anything to perk up its shareholders? Barclays shares have actually ticked up a little in the past few days, presumably in anticipation, and in line with improving banking sentiment — but we’re still looking at a 40% fall since the end of July 2015, to today’s 171p.

Current expectations suggest a 22% rise in EPS for the year just ended December 2015, with forecast rises of 10-14% penciled in for the next two years. That puts the shares on a P/E of 8.2 for 2015, dropping as low as 6.3 by 2017. And, remarkably for a FTSE 100 bank, Barclays shares are on PEG ratios of between 0.4 and 0.7 — and values that low are usually seen at smaller-cap high-growth companies.

With dividends set to yield 3.8% and growing, I’ve considered Barclays as cheap for quite some time, and I’m expecting upbeat results.

Cheap insurance

Shares in Direct Line Insurance Group (LSE: DLG) have had a better time recently with an 8% gain in 12 months to 388p, but it’s been erratic. And though there’s a 20% EPS rise predicted, a P/E of close to 13 suggests there’s already a fair bit of that built in to the share price.

After the sale of its international division, Direct Line made a special cash payment to shareholders of 27.5p per share, and analysts are guessing at a total of around 41.5p for the whole year, which would yield 10.7%. The problem going forward is that the cost of winter storm damage, estimated at between £110m and £140m, will hit the bottom line, and the mooted 19p (4.9%) dividend for 2016 would only be around 1.5 times covered by forecast earnings — and that could be stretching it a bit fine.

I think Direct Line is still a solid investment, but I see better insurance bargains out there.

Soaring houses

Housebuilding has been a massive post-recession success, with Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) one of the bigger winners with a 355% share price rise over the past five years, to 188p. But even after such a climb, expectations for the year just ended put the shares on a relatively modest P/E of 12.5 — with forecasts dropping it to 11 this year and 10 next. On top of that, forecast dividends stand at 5.2% and they’re rising strongly.

Is that optimism well placed? Well, the firm’s year-end trading update suggests it is, with chief executive Pete Redfern speaking of “building more homes than at any point in the last six years and delivering a record operating profit margin of over 20%“. Completions rose 7% to 13,341 homes, with a 9% average selling price rise to £254,000.

With a record year-end order book up 27% on the previous year, I see plenty still to come from Taylor Wimpey.

Should you invest, the value of your investment may rise or fall and your capital is at risk. Before investing, your individual circumstances should be assessed. Consider taking independent financial advice.

Alan Oscroft owns shares in Lloyds Banking Group. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Barclays. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

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