Should You Invest In Car Stars Carclo plc Or GKN plc?

Royston Wild examines the investment case for Carclo plc (LON: CAR) and GKN plc (LON: GKN).

| More on:

The content of this article was relevant at the time of publishing. Circumstances change continuously and caution should therefore be exercised when relying upon any content contained within this article.

You’re reading a free article with opinions that may differ from The Motley Fool’s Premium Investing Services. Become a Motley Fool member today to get instant access to our top analyst recommendations, in-depth research, investing resources, and more. Learn More.

Today I am detailing the exceptional earnings prospects of two auto parts giants.

Investor appetite driving higher

Shares in Carclo (LSE: CAR) have gone absolutely gangbusters during Wednesday trading, and the business was recently dealing 10% higher from the previous close. Investors have continued to pile in following Tuesday’s bubbly trading update, giving the industrial chemicals play — which had conceded a third of its value since May up until yesterday’s release — rare reason for cheer.

Carclo advised that total revenues leapt 17% during April-September, to £57.2m, a result that propelled underlying pre-tax profit to £41m, an 80% rise.

The company had its LED Technologies arm — which builds lights for the automotive industry — to thanks for its stratospheric sales surge, with revenues here galloping 48% higher in the period to £21.2m. And I expect revenues to continue to climb as auto sales, and in particular those across the ‘luxury’ sector, march higher in the years ahead.

And despite today’s stellar share price rise, I believe that Carclo still provides terrific value for money. The West Yorkshire business is expected to experience a 20% earnings blast in the 12 months to March 2016, resulting in an ultra-low P/E ratio of 11.7 times. And this moves below the bargain barometer of 10 times for fiscal 2017, a further 21% bottom-line bounce pushing the reading to just 9.7 times.

These brilliant earnings predictions are anticipated to drive dividends significantly higher, too. Last year’s payment of 2.75p per share is predicted to jump to 3p in 2016, yielding a handy 2.7%. And a projected dividend of 3.3p per share for the following year pushes the yield to 3%.

Revenues poised to accelerate

Life has been similarly tough for auto and aero parts supplier GKN (LSE: GKN) during 2015, the Redditch business having surrendered 18% of its stock price value during the past six months alone. On top of fears over slowing Chinese car demand, the manufacturer has been dented more recently by the impact of Volkswagen’s emissions scandal on its sales outlook.

While it is true the German car giant is a key client for GKN, recent broker analysis suggests that the impact of declining VW sales on the UK firm’s top line is likely to be negligible. Indeed, I for one believe GKN’s top-tier supplier status to the world’s largest carbuilders makes it a great growth picks for the years ahead, while galloping demand for passenger aircraft should drive demand for its aerospace products, too.

Despite an expected 10% earnings slip in 2015 GKN changes hands on a mega-low P/E rating of just 10.6 times. And this number drops to 10.4 times for next year thanks to predictions of a 3% bottom-line uptick.

In addition, predicted dividends of 8.8p and 9.3p per share for 2015 and 2016 correspondingly carry chunky yields of 3.1% and 3.3%. I believe both GKN and Carclo are great engineering picks for savvy value seekers.

Royston Wild owns shares of GKN. The Motley Fool UK owns shares of GKN. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

More on Investing Articles

Long-term vs short-term investing concept on a staircase
Investing Articles

Is now a good time to start investing in the wealth-building stock market?

The stock market is a battle-hardened builder of wealth long term. But with risks mounting, is now a good time…

Read more »

Investing Articles

£10,000 invested in red-hot Tesco shares just 1 week ago is now worth…

Harvey Jones is impressed by how well Tesco shares have defied recent stock market volatility. So can this FTSE 100…

Read more »

Road 2025 to 2032 new year direction concept
Investing Articles

See the income from investing a £20k ISA in this UK stock before it goes ex-dividend on 9 April

Harvey Jones says this UK stock offers one of the highest yields on the FTSE 100. Investors need to act…

Read more »

Middle-aged Caucasian woman deep in thought while looking out of the window
Investing Articles

What’s going on with the AstraZeneca share price now?

Dr James Fox explores the recent movements in the AstraZeneca share price and evaluates whether it's still a good long-term…

Read more »

Young female business analyst looking at a graph chart while working from home
Investing Articles

This S&P 500 stock is down 30% and the CEO just bought $10m worth of shares

Insiders only buy a stock for one reason – they expect its price to go up. So, this S&P 500…

Read more »

Black woman using smartphone at home, watching stock charts.
Investing Articles

£5,000 invested in BAE Systems shares a month ago is now worth…

BAE Systems shares have been among the FTSE 100's best performers in recent years. The question is, can the defence…

Read more »

A senior man and his wife holding hands walking up a hill on a footpath looking away from the camera at the view. The fishing village of Polperro is behind them.
Investing Articles

Here’s how a £20k ISA could generate £7,875 in monthly passive income

Have £20,000 ready to invest? Royston Wild explains how you could put this in a Stocks and Shares ISA to…

Read more »

Middle-aged white man wearing glasses, staring into space over the top of his laptop in a coffee shop
Investing Articles

By April 2027, £2,630 invested in Barclays shares could be worth…

Barclays shares have been flying. But what might happen to a chunk of money invested in the bank's stock over…

Read more »