Investor appetite for Avation (LSE: AVAP) has failed to recover from the waves of selling that set in across stock bourses in mid-January. I see this as an opportunity for savvy dip buyers to pick up a bargain.
Avation, which leases commercial aircraft to some of the world’s biggest airlines including easyJet and Air France, is thriving in an environment of improving lease yields. As a result, it reported record revenues and pre-tax profits last year, the latter up 18% year-on-year in the 12 months to June 2017 to $21.4m.
And the Singapore-based firm is spending a fortune on building its fleet to capitalise on these favourable metrics. It now has around 40 aeroplanes on its books and, critically, it’s mixing up the types of aircraft it leases out maximise business opportunities. The acquisition of a number of large twin-aisle aircraft more recently marks the latest step in this journey.
Stunning dividend growth
With Avation also enjoying booming operating cash flows, up 20% last year, the business has also continued to light a fire under dividends. For example, the leasing giant hiked the dividend by an astonishing 85% last year to 6 US cents per share.
Even though City analysts expect earnings to slip 21% in the year ending June 2018, the flying ace’s solid long-term profits outlook should still keep dividends shooting skywards. An 8.4-cent payout is forecast by the number crunchers, resulting in a chunky 2.7% yield.
The good news doesn’t stop here either. Supported by a predicted 22% earnings rebound in fiscal 2019, the dividend is expected to rise to 11.2 cents. Thus the yield for next year jumps to 3.5%.
What’s more, the stratospheric dividend growth being predicted doesn’t come at the expense of solid protection either. Added to Avation’s brilliant cash flows, investors can also sleep soundly in the knowledge that predicted dividends are covered between 3.2 times and 3.4 times by estimated earnings through to the close of next year. That’s some distance inside the accepted safety watermark of 2 times or above.
All told, I reckon Avation is a brilliant, bargain growth and income share with the firm dealing on a forward P/E ratio of just 11 times.
The 6%+ yielder
Jupiter Fund Management (LSE: JUP) is another white-hot dividend share worthy of a seriously close look today.
The company’s brilliant growth record has also enabled it to lift shareholder rewards at a brisk pace in recent years. And with profits anticipated to keep on swelling — rises of 8% and 9% are forecasted for 2018 and 2019, respectively — dividends are expected to also trek higher.
So the anticipated 30.2p per share payment for 2017 is expected to rise to 32.5p in the present year and to increase to 35.6p in 2019. Consequently, the fund giant carries monster yields of 6% and 6.6% for this year and next.
Like Avation, Jupiter has also fallen out of favour with share pickers since hitting record tops in early January, even though it has since announced business has continued to boom. A £5.5bn improvement in net inflows in 2017 drove total assets under management 24% higher year-on-year, to £50.2bn.
Given its terrific trading momentum, I reckon Jupiter’s forward P/E ratio of 14.4 times makes it a steal right now.
