I’m thinking of buying these top FTSE 250 shares today. Allow me a few minutes of your time to explain why.
Too cheap to miss?
Car retailer Motorpoint Group (LSE: MOTR) is tipped for strong and sustained earnings growth in the medium term. A 123% improvement in full-year profits is expected in the current fiscal period to March 2022. A 20% rise is anticipated for financial 2023.
Yet despite these bubbly predictions Motorpoint still trades extremely cheaply. This share trades on a forward price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio of just 0.1.
I don’t think this reading reflects how robust business is, and is likely to remain, at Motorpoint. Supply chain problems in the new car market are sending demand for pre-owned vehicles through the roof. The retailer in fact said that revenues and profits would come in “significantly ahead” of expectations when it last updated the market in November.
Motoring on
Fresh data on the second-hand car market has boosted my expectations of another blockbuster update when it releases its full-year trading update in early April, too. According to Auto Trader, the average price of a pre-owned vehicle has risen 29% over the past 12 months. Price increases are accelerating as the shortage of new stock worsens.
Of course, Motorpoint could suffer if a chronic shortage of used vehicles emerges and it ends up with half-empty forecourts. But this is a risk I’d be happy to accept given the company’s massively cheap share price. A combination of strong industry fundamentals and robust market share gains makes Motorpoint a top cheap stock for me to own today.
Ready for action
Geopolitical tension is at its highest for decades as Russia’s military perches outside Ukraine. Fears of fresh conflict between the West and emerging nations Russia and China have been growing for some years, though, a phenomenon which saw global defence spending rise at its fastest pace for 11 years in 2020.
Another hefty yearly increase is expected when the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute releases 2021 numbers in April. The ratcheting up of military posturing in Eastern Europe today means arms expenditure can be expected to keep rising strongly in 2022 and beyond, too.
As a result I think companies like Chemring Group (LSE: CHG) can expect demand for their goods to continue growing strongly. In fact City analysts think that this particular UK defence share will experience earnings growth of 8% and 4% in the next two financial years (to October 2022 and 2023 respectively) alone.
A FTSE 250 firework
Chemring manufactures flares and decoys which protect planes and ships from missile attack. The company sells more than half of its tech to the US, though it is also a major supplier to British and Norwegian armed forces.
It’s important to look at the dangers facing Chemring, of course. One of the main worries I have is that its critical life- and equipment-protecting systems have to be impervious to failure. Any other outcome could have disastrous consequences for Chemring’s future orders.
Still, it’s my opinion that Chemring’s undemanding valuation reflects this ever-present danger. At 260p per share, this share trades on a forward P/E ratio of just 14 times. I’d happily buy the FTSE 250 firm for my portfolio right now.
