In the past few days research has emerged showing how dividend yields from FTSE 100 firms are heading to the stars. But forget about those blue chips for one second: there’s a galaxy of great income stocks on London’s lower indices that could help you and me get rich.
Take sausage casings manufacturer Devro (LSE: DVO) as an example. With City predictions of solid earnings growth come expectations of more weighty dividend hikes, too, leaving the business with bulging payout yields of 6% and 6.2% for this year and next respectively.
As if this wasn’t enough, the small cap trades on a price-to-earnings ratio that fails to reflect its enormous revenues opportunities in global markets, in my opinion, at 9.5 times.
Sales in growth markets soar
The latest trading details this week showed that despite disappointing sales in mainland Europe and Japan, solid performances in the hot growth regions of North America and China helped sales pick up momentum in the third quarter. And Devro says that it expects the top line to continue accelerating through the remainder of 2019.
The food manufacturing giant’s thrown shedloads of cash to bolster its position in these exciting regions, whether it be through opening new factories like its state-of-the-art facility in Nantong or rolling out suites of new products. These measures are now paying off and make Devro one to watch for both growth and income investors.
Remarkable resilience
Now TClarke (LSE: CTO) is, on one hand, not a share for the faint-of-heart. The services contractor’s predicted to keep earnings growing through the next two years but an uncertain political and economic outlook could see these figures come under pressure as the construction market cools. Latest PMI data showed the sector contract again in September for the fifth month on the spin.
Still, based on current forecasts could TClarke be considered too cheap to miss? It’s quite possible: after all, a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 5.7 times sits well inside the commonly regarded bargain terrain of 10 times and below, and arguably factors in these tough trading conditions.
Not that the business is showing signs of strain just yet. Revenues leapt 12% in the six months to June, while a stable forward order book (at £370m) provide some splendid earnings visibility. Besides, those fearful of a sagging top line should be encouraged by signs of progress on the margin front between January and June – the underlying operating margin rose to 2.9% from 2.6% previously.
One final thing to note: at current prices the fledgling index firm sports big dividend yields of 4.4% and 4.8% for 2019 and 2020 respectively. Market conditions might be certain, sure, but TClarke’s confident enough to have hiked the interim payout 14% year on year. I’m confident the business should prove a very decent dividend share in the near term and beyond.
