Today I am running the rule over three London-quoted headline makers.
Retailer on the rise
Retail giant Findel (LSE: FDL) cheered the market on Tuesday with news of a significant divestment, a development thatdrove shares in the company 7% higher from Mondays close.
The Hyde-based business advised that it had shorn off its Kitbag division to US sports merchandise giant Fanatics for a cash consideration of 11.55m. Findel said that the move will focus our resources more fully on driving growth within our core home shopping and education businesses.
And despite todays solid share price bump, I believe Findel still offers great value at current prices, particularly as sales at Express Gifts and Findel Education continue to improve.
The City expects the company to follow predicted earnings growth of 15% in the 12 months to March 2015 with a 7% advance in 2016. This leaves the stock dealing on a P/E multiple of just 7.2 times any reading below 10 times is widely considered terrific value.
Manufacturer on the march
Although paring gains from earlier in the day, diversified manufacturer Low & Bonar (LSE: LWB) was also firmly in the plus column in Tuesday business and was last seen 5.5% higher on the day.
Investor sentiment cantered higher, following news that pre-tax profit advanced 5.6% in the year to November 2015, to 26.6m, with Low & Bonar shrugging off the impact of unfavourable currency movements. Total revenues at actual rates fell 3.6% last year to 395.8m, although at constant currencies these rose 2.4% in the period.
Even though tricky market conditions remain a bugbear for some of Low & Bonars divisions, I believe the companys expansion in China on top of capacity increases at its construction fibres facilities should underpin robust bottom-line growth in the years ahead.
The abacus bashers expect the business to chalk up a 10% earnings advance in 2016 alone, leaving Low & Bonar changing hands on a very-attractive P/E rating of 10.8 times.
Time to stop digging
Diversified mining giant Anglo American (LSE: AAL) enjoyed a solid updraft during the dying embers of January, as risk appetite returned to global stock markets. But this strength is already beginning to peter out, and I expect the company to add to the 7% fall currently recorded in Tuesday trading.
Its no secret that each of Anglo Americans major markets remain hamstrung by colossal supply/demand imbalances, a scenario that should keep a cap on potential price recoveries. Indeed, signs of worsening economic cooling in China are likely to heap fresh pressure on raw material prices in the near future.
Anglo American is expected to have clocked up a fourth successive earnings slip in 2015, this time by a meaty 57%. And a colossal 36% dip is predicted for 2016.
Sure, a consequent P/E rating of 10.4 times may be attractive on paper. But I reckon Anglo Americans long-term revenues outlook not to mention the prospect of earnings downgrades to current projections and likelihood of draconian dividend cuts make the business a highly-unattractive stock selection.
Royston Wild has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.