Today I’m looking at two London stocks that could ignite this month.
Heating and plumbing play Wolseley (LSE: WOS) has been a major beneficiary of the charge towards stocks with a heavy international bias in the wake of the EU referendum.
The engineer has seen its share price ascend 23% since June’s vote, the company’s hefty exposure to North America taking it to record tops in that time. And I believe Wolseley’s next trading statement — earmarked for release on 6 December — could prompt a fresh charge higher.
Wolseley saw like-for-like sales edge up 1.5% during the 12 months to July, it announced in September, driven by another strong performance in the US — underlying sales here jumped 4.5% in the period.
And I believe demand for Wolseley’s services should continue to climb as US building activity gains traction. Construction-related spending in the country rose 3.4% year-on-year in October, data this week showed.
While signs of further momentum in the States could send Wolseley’s stock value to new all-time highs this week, exciting news surrounding its stepped-up acquisition drive and news surrounding UK restructuring may also provide the share with jet fuel.
At first glance, Wolseley may not be the most attractively-valued stock in town. A predicted 16% earnings rise for the period to July 2017 creates a P/E ratio of 16.2 times, nudging above the investment benchmark of 15 times widely considered attractive value.
And a 2.4% dividend yield isn’t likely to get income chasers too excited either, this figure lagging a forward average of 3.5% for Britain’s blue chips.
I don’t believe these readings exclude the possibility of further share price advances however, nor the possibility of shareholders reaping bountiful rewards in the years ahead. Indeed, I reckon Wolseley is still great value at these levels given its excellent earnings record, and an extra stock market surge could be in the offing in the coming days.
Set to fire?
Against a difficult geopolitical and macroeconomic backdrop, I reckon classically-defensive stock picks like BAE Systems (LSE: BA) could also enjoy a strong finish to 2016.
Concerns over the timing and disruption of the UK’s Brexit and questions over where incoming US President Donald Trump will take the world’s largest economy are at the front of investors’ minds. And these factors have already propelled BAE Systems’ share price to peaks above 600p per share in November.
But BAE Systems still remains very attractively valued, at least in my opinion, leaving plenty of scope for fresh investor stockpiling. A predicted 9% earnings surge in 2017 leaves the company dealing on a P/E ratio of 14 times. And the dividend yield rings in at a juicy 3.7% for next year.
While lumpy contract timings may continue to hinder the defence sector, I reckon the long-term outlook for BAE Systems remains strong as Western arms spending continues to recover. I believe the London defence play is one of the strongest buy-wnd-forget shares out there.
