Today I’m looking at three FTSE 100 stars offering explosive bang for your buck.
Pick up a bargain
British shopping institution Marks & Spencer (LSE: MKS) has hardly had much to cheer about since 2016 kicked-off, the stock falling 5% since December and hitting 15-month lows in the process. Why?
The retailer still has some way to go to transform the fortunes of its ailing General Merchandise unit — sales dropped 5.8% in the three months to 26 December, M&S advised last month. But there are still plenty of reasons for investors to be excited, from the firm’s ambitious growth strategy in hot foreign landscapes an improving multi-channel proposition both at home and abroad and exploding demand at its Food division.
These factors are expected to deliver an 8% earnings improvement in the year to March 2016, according to City analysts, leaving M&S dealing on a very-decent P/E rating of 14 times. And this reading falls to just 13.1 times for 2017 thanks to predictions of a 7% bottom-line improvement.
And the firm’s ultra-aggressive dividend policy offers plenty of incentive for income chasers too. Anticipated payouts of 19.1p per share for 2016 and 20.7p for next year create brilliant yields of 3.8% and 4.2%, respectively.
A soaring value star
Like M&S, budget airline easyJet (LSE: EZJ) hasn’t exactly got off to a flyer this year either. The Luton business has seen its stock value fall 12% since the start of January. But I believe the market is overlooking easyJet’s brilliant long-term growth potential.
The carrier saw passenger numbers leap an impressive 8.1% between October and December to 16.1m, and I believe the firm’s hub-and-route expansion programme should keep traveller numbers heading higher. Furthermore, a backcloth of subdued fuel costs should also bolster easyJet’s profit margins looking ahead.
These views are shared by the number crunchers who expect the airline to record an 8% earnings bump in the year to September 2016, resulting in an ultra-cheap P/E multiple of 11.2 times.
And this solid earnings outlook is expected to keep dividends at easyJet soaring too. Last year’s payout of 55.2p per share is projected to leap to 60.3p in the current period, yielding a smashing 3.6%.
A medical marvel
Pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) has endured a turbulent ride so far in 2016, although the defensive nature of its operations has enabled it to weather the worst of patchy investor appetite. Indeed, GlaxoSmithKline’s stock price has gained 3% since the start of the year.
And I expect share values to keep steaming ahead as its next generation of sales drivers steadily offsets patent losses on revenue-critical labels. Such has been the success of GlaxoSmithKline’s new brands that the company now expects new products like the Tivecay HIV treatment and Nucala asthma drug to hit the £6bn sales marker by 2018, two years earlier than originally planned.
Thanks to the hard work of GlaxoSmithKline’s R&D team, earnings are expected to flip 12% higher in 2016, resulting in a great P/E multiple of 15.8 times. And I expect the bottom line to keep progressing as the firm’s product pipeline continues delivering the goods.
Meanwhile, GlaxoSmithKline’s pledged dividend of 80p per share through to 2017 yields a terrific 5.7%. I fully expect the company to make good on this promise thanks to its rapidly-improving earnings outlook.
