The FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE) has dusted itself off after falling to a three week low on Friday. The UK’s leading blue-chip share index fell by 76 points and closed at 6,713 at the end of last week, pushed down by mining stocks after news of China’s first corporate bond default.
The Footsie is up 17 points so far in 2014 and analysts are still of the belief that the stock market will edge towards record highs. Of course, the more the market rises, the harder it will be to buy some of your favourite blue-chips at affordable prices.
The sort of sharp dip we witnessed last week — which will not be the last — shouldn’t be cause for panic. Instead, see it as a buying opportunity.
These were the shares that really hit the deck last week:
ITE Group
The trade exhibition organiser ITE Group (LSE: ITE), that focuses on Russia and other emerging markets, was among a number of stocks worldwide that were impacted negatively by the Ukraine crisis.
Shares in ITE Group fell by 17% — more than any other company on the FTSE All Share — although it was business as usual for the firm in the Ukrainian capital, after it managed to put on a number of events there without a hitch.
The share price remained flat during early trade this morning, and ITE Group currently trades at 234p, with a trailing dividend yield of 3%.
Soco
Another reason for a number of stocks falling last week was badly received results statements. One of those companies was the oil and gas explorer Soco (LSE: SIA), whose share price fell nearly 11% to 413p after revenues fell to $622m from $608m the year before. This was mainly due to a production slump in Vietnam.
The share price has since made some gains, adding 20p to 333p.
Taking into account the fall in earnings per share of almost half to 19p, the shares may therefore trade on a price/earnings ratio of 18.
Balfour Beatty
Lastly we’ll take a quick look at what happened to Balfour Beatty (LSE: BBY), the construction group, after the shares fell 8% last week. Despite a disappointing 2013 with profits slumping 78% to £32m the company did manage to maintain its dividend.
Balfour’s trading dividend yield is 5%, which is high, although the dividend cover is less than optimal at 1.4 times earnings.
Obviously, the harder it becomes for a company to cover its dividend, the more likely that payments may be stopped altogether.
