Today I am discussing the investment potential of three recent London movers.
Mining giant on shaky ground
Dedicated copper digger KAZ Minerals (LSE: KAZ) has seen its share price surge 14% from Wednesday’s close, despite releasing negative production numbers.
The business announced that copper cathode production came in at 81,100 tonnes in 2015, down 3% from the prior year and at the bottom end of guidance of between 80,000 and 85,000 tonnes.
Still, investors shrugged off this bad news thanks to a strong rebound in copper prices — the bellwether metal has charged back above the $4,600 per tonne marker in recent days thanks to cautious comments from the Federal Reserve over future rate hikes.
But I believe this strength represents nothing more than a fresh selling opportunity. Shares in KAZ Minerals have sunk 45% during the past 12 months, falling in line with sinking commodity prices.
With Chinese economic rebalancing becoming more problematic, and producers including KAZ Minerals planning to keep swamping the market with excess material, I fully expect copper values — along with earnings across the sector — to continue to fall. Indeed, the City predicts that KAZ Minerals will continue to churn out losses into 2016 and potentially beyond.
An electrifying growth bet
Power generator provider Ashtead (LSE: AHT) was recently leading the FTSE 100 lower in Thursday business, the stock dealing 6% lower from the prior close.
However, I believe this represents a fresh chance for bargain hunters to pile in thanks to the tearaway success of Ashtead’s Sunbelt and A-Plant brands across Western markets. Not only are these divisions steadily grabbing market share, but rising activity levels across construction sectors in these regions also promise to keep sending sales higher.
The number crunchers expect Ashtead to punch earnings growth of 24% and 18% in the years concluding April 2016 and 2017 correspondingly, figures that produce ultra-cheap P/E ratings of 13.6 times and 11.7 times. Any reading below 15 times is widely considered tremendous value.
And sub-1 PEG readings through to the close of fiscal 2017 underline Ashtead’s terrific value relative to its growth prospects.
Engineer suffers sales woes
Engineering play Renishaw (LSE: RSW) recovered ground from earlier in Thursday’s session but currently remains 0.5% down from Wednesday following the release of disappointing half-year results.
The Gloucestershire business advised that revenues sunk 11% between July and December, to £198.5m, a result that caused pre-tax profit to more than halve, to £26.1m. Renishaw blamed the poor numbers on a lack of large orders from the Far East compared with the previous year, although sales in the UK and the Americas also took a whack during the period.
The City expects Renishaw to endure a 34% earnings decline in the year to June 2016, leaving the company dealing on a P/E rating of 17.7 times. Although this number is far from shocking, I believe the impact of macroeconomic turbulence in its Asian marketplaces could keep revenues firmly on the back foot, making the business an underwhelming stock selection at current prices.
