Today I considering the investment case for three recent London laggards.
Television titan
Broadcasting giant ITV’s (LSE: ITV) stock price endured a torrid time between last Monday and Friday, the company conceding 9% of its value in the period. In total the firm has fallen 15% in little over a month.
But I believe this represents a fresh buying opportunity for bargain hunters. ITV has a terrific record of generating chunky earnings growth year after year, and this trend look set to keep on rolling.
Advertising revenues continue trekking higher, and the firm’s ITV Studios arm — home to hits like Coronation Street and Poldark — is delivering bountiful rewards thanks in no small part to clever acquisitions across the globe.
For 2016 the broadcaster is expected to punch a 10% earnings rise, resulting in a P/E rating of just 12.9 times — any reading around or below 15 times is considered very attractive value. This suggests ITV has plenty of room to stage a share price recovery.
Box office beauty
Cinema chain Cineworld (LSE: CINE) also had a week to forget between Monday and Friday, a 5% continuing the massive volatility of recent weeks.
The popcorn house has seen its shares collapse 12% since the turn of the year, but I believe the market is overlooking Cineworld’s brilliant long-term growth potential. Box office revenues surged 11.6% in 2015 thanks to a weighty roster of blockbusters, and further instalments from Marvel and Star Wars alone in the coming years should continue driving the top line.
With Cineworld expanding at home and abroad to meet increasing footfall, the City expects earnings to rise 9% in 2016, creating a P/E ratio of 16 times.
I believe this merits serious attention, particularly as the possibility of fresh market turbulence could turbocharge demand for the firm’s ‘defensive’ qualities yet again. Cinema takings remain historically strong regardless of wider economic troubles, after all.
Drugs delight
Like ITV and Cineworld, I reckon fresh weakness at AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) should be attracting the gaze of shrewd dip buyers. The medicines giant fell 4% during Monday-Friday, taking total losses in the year to date to 13%.
The enduring headache of huge patent losses means that AstraZeneca lacks the upward momentum of the aforementioned stocks, and this problem is not expected to go away any time soon — indeed, the number crunchers anticipate a fifth straight earnings drop in 2016, this time by a chunky 8%.
But I am convinced AstraZeneca’s decision to double-down on R&D investment should pay off handsomely in the years ahead. The pharma giant expects to submit a further six products for regulatory approval in 2016, and in fast-growing areas like oncology. And the prospect of further acquisition activity looks likely to boost AstraZeneca’s product pipeline still further.
With emerging market off-take also exploding — AstraZeneca saw demand from these regions shoot 12% higher last year — I reckon a prospective P/E rating of 14.3 times presents great value for those seeking great long-term returns.
