BT (LSE: BT.A) shares are having a great run at the moment. Since falling to around £1 in April, they’ve rocketed up to 149p. Today, the shares still look pretty cheap. However, there are other stocks in the FTSE 100 index I’d buy before the telecoms giant.
Cheap for a reason?
BT currently has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just eight. That’s well below the market average, so the stock appears to offer some value right now.
The thing is, I can’t see the P/E ratio rising that much from here if I’m honest. One reason for this is that growth is non-existent at the moment. This financial year (ending 31 March 2025), City analysts expect BT’s revenue to fall. It’s the same story with earnings per share – these are expected to decline from 18.5p to 18.2p.
A second is that the company has a mountain of debt on its balance sheet. Generally speaking, investors aren’t willing to pay up for highly-leveraged companies (because a ton of debt adds a lot of risk).
Now I could be wrong, of course. It’s worth noting that BT CEO Allison Kirkby has a plan to more than double free cash flow over the next five years. If the company can show it’s on track to achieve this goal, the shares could keep rising.
Another factor that could potentially drive the shares up to a higher valuation is the dividend. If interest rates continue falling, BT’s chunky yield (5.4% currently) could attract investors.
But given that BT’s return on capital‘s quite low at around 6%, I’d be surprised if the stock was able to generate strong returns in the long run.
As billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s late business partner Charlie Munger once said: “If the business earns six percent on capital over 40 years and you hold it for that 40 years, you’re not going to make much different than a six percent return – even if you originally buy it at a huge discount.”
I like this Footsie stock
If I was looking for more FTSE 100 exposure today, one stock I’d snap up before BT would be Coca Cola HBC (LSE: CCH). It’s the major bottling partner to beverage powerhouse Coca-Cola (which I also have some shares in).
Compared to BT, this company has much more attractive fundamentals, in my view. For starters, it’s growing at a healthy rate. This year, revenue growth’s expected to be a little under 4%.
Secondly, debt on the balance sheet is quite reasonable. Third, return on capital’s decent at about 13% (three-year average). So the company’s far more profitable than BT.
Finally, the company has a great dividend track record and the payout is growing fast. Currently, the yield’s about 3.1%, rising to 3.4% looking at next year’s projected payout.
As for the valuation, the P/E ratio’s 13.4 using the 2025 earnings forecast. At that ratio, I see room for multiple expansion (analysts at Deutsche Bank just raised their price target to 3,150p).
Of course, this company isn’t perfect. Geopolitical conflict across Europe and the Middle East presents a risk as some consumers are boycotting US brands today.
All things considered however, I think this is a superior stock and I’m tempted to buy it (despite owning shares in Coca-Cola!).
