Today I’m looking at three stocks dealing far too cheaply at current prices.
Budget battleship
Defence provider BAE Systems (LSE: BA) avoided the worst of the Footsie washout on Friday, the stock losing ‘only’ 4% as Brexit bothers dented buyer appetite.
Still, I reckon this slight weakness represents a fresh buying opportunity for bargain lovers.
Sure, the company may be expected to nurse a 4% earnings decline in 2016. But this is the result of contract timing issues rather than a signal of poor hardware demand. Indeed, earnings are expected to head 7% higher next year.
These projections create terrific P/E ratings of 12.2 times and 11.5 times for 2016 and 2017 respectively, taking out the historical FTSE 100 average of 15 times by some distance. And income chasers should be won over by chunky payout yields of 4.5% for 2016 and 4.7% for 2017.
And I believe BAE Systems is in great shape to deliver sterling returns in the years ahead thanks to irrepressible demand for its hi-tech goods from the US and UK armed forces.
Bargain basement
Property play Bovis Homes (LSE: BVS) took a much heftier whack in end-of-week business, the stock tumbling 24% from pre-referendum levels.
Bovis was hurt by a double whammy of fears. Stock selectors digested the possibility of wavering homebuyer confidence in the months ahead and the impact of rising stress on the banking sector, a potential roadblock to the favourable lending conditions currently enjoyed by purchasers.
However, I believe the risks facing Bovis are more than baked-in at the present time. Indeed, the stock currently changes hands on P/E ratings of 7 times and 6.2 times for 2016 and 2017, respectively, thanks to predicted earnings rises of 16% and 14%.
This is well below the threshold of 10 times or under that’s indicative of high-risk stocks. And dividend yields of 5.8% and 6.5% for these years smash the big-cap average of 3.5% by some distance.
While Bovis’s near-term earnings projections may be subject to downgrades, I reckon the housing sector remains robust enough to make the firm a solid long-term stock selection.
A low-cost corker
Telecoms titan Vodafone (LSE: VOD) hasn’t fallen victim to rampant offloading however, and with good reason in my opinion. Indeed, the stock actually gained around 1% in end-of-week trading.
The mobile operator’s multibillion pound organic investment programme — allied with the fruits of shrewd acquisition activity on the continent — has helped it significantly bolster its long-term outlook in Europe. Indeed, organic service revenues here rose for the first time in six years during January-March as a result.
And exploding sales in Asia, the Middle East and Africa should give investors further cause to pile-in, particularly given Vodafone’s growing presence in the Asian powerhouse of India.
Expected earnings growth of 24% and 17% for the years to March 2016 and 2017, respectively, may create heady P/E ratings of 34.2 times and 28.2 times. But these multiples are more than compensated for by a hefty 5.5% dividend yield through to the close of next year.
