For those looking for dividend stocks, April should be a good month for news. Three of my favourite companies are set to post updates. And I rate all of them as too cheap.
Taylor Wimpey
The Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW.) share price is going off the boil again, and it’s around 20% down in the past five years now.
We should have an update on AGM day on 23 April.
There’s growing speculation that interest rates could start to come down as soon as May. And we could be down a whole percentage point by the end of the year.
That means anything we hear in April could come at a great time for those considering buying.
With FY results in February, we heard that “current trading shows some encouraging signs of improvement with reduced mortgage rates positively impacting affordability and confidence in our customer base“.
And I really just want to see how that’s holding up a couple of months later.
Barclays
I keep changing my mind over which FTSE 100 bank valuation I like the best. One month it’s Lloyds Banking Group, the next it’s NatWest Group. And on 25 April, it might be Barclays (LSE: BARC) again.
We have Q1 results due on that date. And I think it could give the share price an extra boost. Barclays shares are back to where they were before Covid, which is good going.
This time, I really just want to see how liquidity is doing. But with the bank on a new share buyback run, I don’t expect any trouble there.
One key thing struck me in February’s FY23 results. That’s the bank’s plan to return at least £10bn of capital to shareholders between 2024 and 2026, through dividends and share buybacks.
Any futher thoughts on that would be welcome.
WPP
Media giant WPP (LSE: WPP) is my third choice. Its share price has had a volatile few years, with a Covid recovery that soon fell apart.
But with a Q1 trading update due also on 25 April, I wonder if we might see another boost.
We’re still in early days for the firm’s recovery, but forecasts look good. There’s a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 10.5 down for the current year. And in these uncertain times, I think that might be fair valuation.
But earnings growth forecasts would drop that to under eight by 2026, with the dividend yield up to 5.6%. The dividend payments should be strongly covered by earnings too, if the City has it right.
Any early sign of how the year is going so far would be welcome, particularly on the cash flow front.
St James’s Place
And now an honourable mention for St James’s Place, due to post a Q1 new business update on 30 April.
This should be the first we’ve heard from the firm since February’s FY results sent the share price crashing.
It’s all about £426m set aside for potential refunds to clients who overpaid for fees and advice. Oh, and a slashed dividend. Anything that suggests we’re not in for a further shock would be good.
