Today I am looking at the bounceback potential of three recent Footsie fallers.
Retail riser
Clothing giant N Brown Group (LSE: BWNG) saw its share price collapse 14% between last Monday and Friday, the market greeting the firm’s latest results with light panic.
N Brown slumped after advising that pre-tax profits fell 7.8% in the year to February 2016, to £72.2m, due to difficult trading conditions and huge restructuring costs. And worryingly the company advised that “challenging market conditions” are likely to persist for the fashion sector looking ahead.
The City remains convinced that N Brown is a firm ‘on the up’, however, and expects the retailer to chalk up a 6% for the year to February 2017 alone, resulting in a terrific P/E rating of 11 times. And further bottom-line growth is anticipated beyond the current period.
Meanwhile, income hunters will surely be attracted by a dividend yield of 5.4%. I believe N Brown’s long-running transformation drive leaves it in great shape for the coming years, particularly as ‘e-commerce’ activity continues to explode.
Cast adrift
I am not so bullish over the earnings prospects of Gulf Marine Services (LSE: GMS), however. The stock conceded 9% of its value last week, meaning the support-vessel provider has seen its share price halve since the start of 2016.
And I expect Gulf Marine Services to keep on sliding as conditions in the oil sector worsen, a situation that it likely to lead to further capex scalebacks from large and small fossil fuel producers alike. Indeed, Gulf Marine Services warned last month that group EBITDA is likely to sink 15%-20% year-on-year in 2016 thanks to continued sector turbulence.
And investors should be concerned by the barge provider’s fragile balance sheet, too. Net debt rang in at an eye-watering $398.9m as of December, rising from $273.6m a year earlier. And Gulf Marine Services expects debt to increase to $425m by the close of the year.
Many bargain hunters will be tempted by a mega-low P/E rating of 4.6 times for 2016 — created by City expectations of an 18% earnings slip — as well as a handy 3.1% dividend yield. But I believe the worsening supply dynamics whacking the oil market still make Gulf Marine Services an unappealing stock pick, even at current prices.
A beaming stock pick
Electricity network operator National Grid (LSE: NG) also fell foul of market movements between last Monday and Friday, the share dipping 5% during the period and stepping back from record highs above £10 per share.
However, I see this as nothing more than profit taking and expect the power play to resume its trek higher. Not only is there enough fear concerning the global economy to keep ‘defensive’ stocks like National Grid on the boil, but I believe the firm’s steady expansion in the UK and US should underpin fresh share price momentum well into the future.
Indeed, the City expects rising revenues to underpin earnings growth of 2% in the year to March 2017 alone, resulting in a decent P/E rating of 15.3 times. And National Grid provides terrific value for dividend hunters, too, the firm’s progressive dividend policy chucking out a market-mashing yield of 4.7%.
