Newspaper and magazine share tips
Each week we round up share tips from national newspapers and investment magazines. For the Mail on Sunday's stock picks, read the Midas column.
Tips: All the latest share tips from newspapers and magazines
FRIDAY
The Times
Adam Fowle, Mitchells & Butlers newest chief executive has shown no sign of straying from the strategic path the pub and restaurant operator has followed since its demerger from Six Continents six years ago. Yesterday's full-year trading update, pointing to earnings slightly above market forecasts, had all the characteristics that investors have come to expect from M&B. Despite pressure on consumer spending from rising unemployment, the shares at 274.6p, down 9.6p, or a multiple of 12 times next year's earnings, are worth holding.
Despite London Scottish Bank's collapse into administration and shares in Cattles suspended, the stock market's other small-cap doorstep lender S&U is carrying on as normal. Yesterday's first-half results showed that pre-tax profits and earnings per share were up 8%. At 472½p, up 32½p, or less than nine times current-year earnings, and yielding 6.8%, the shares are worth buying for the dividend alone. Buy.
The Daily Telegraph
The value traded across the LSE's various platforms in the five months to August was down by 43% at £4.6bn, compared with the same period last year. Despite grim trading conditions, the LSE has also bought MillenniumIT to upgrade its trading platform and generate another £10m of cost savings. The shares fell on Thursday presenting a buying opportunity. Yielding 3%, they are trading on 14.5 times earnings. Buy
BAE Systems has bought out VT Group's 45% stake in their joint shipbuilding venture BVT for £346m, completing a takeover process which really began in 2007 when the partnership was first formed. Questor argues that unless the world becomes a significantly more peaceful place in the coming years, the defence sector deserves a positive stance. Buy.
Investors Chronicle
Consumer demand for mobile internet and new handset technologies is insatiable. That's proved good news for Spirent, which supplies testing services to equipment vendors designing new kit. Spirent is a market leader and has performed better than its industry rivals. With strong cash generation - which could reach £102 by the year-end - and a potential for earnings upgrades, it's a buy.
The defence sector's current unpopularity with investors means there is value to be found. Chemring looks particularly well-placed following the acquisition of US company Hi-Shear Technology, which signals an attractive expansion into higher technology. Investors will, however, need to keep an eye on borrowing. Analysts estimate the Hi-Shear deal will mean a net debt pile of about £120m. But the firm has an impressive growth profile and boasts long-term prospects. Buy.
THURSDAY
The Daily Telegraph
United Utilities yesterday updated the market ahead of its half-year results in November. The company said the dividend policy depended largely on Ofwat's final determination. The balance sheet is in sufficiently good shape that the dividend structure will be maintained, so the share's are worth keeping. Hold.
Game Group, the computer games and consoles retailer, is definitely one to avoid. The group said yesterday that half-year prodits fell by 67%, from £32.8m to £10.8m. Like-for-like sales fell by 16.3%. Although the shares are cheap, Questor is not tempted to buy. Avoid.
The Times
Sterling Energy has been devalued sharply, shares in the oil and gas explorer have fallen by 87% over the past three years. At 4p, higher-risk investors should buy Sterling. Buy with risk.
Holidaybreak may be still seeking a chief executive, but the outlook for the specialist travel group is improving. Like-for-like sales is its important education division are up 7%. At 308p, nine times next year's earnings, tuck away. Hold.
Shares magazine
Town Centre Securities, a real estate investment trust with a predominantly retail portfolio centred on the north of England and the Midlands. Its share trade at a substantial discount to its most recent NAV, while most the sector has moved to a premium. Buy.
De La Rue produces bank notes, passports, driving licences and is associated with cash handling. The company has underperformed the market as investors' appetite for risk has trampled over companies with slow but steady earnings growth. High quality of earnings from defensive stocks should ultimately be rewarded by the market. Buy.
WEDNESDAY
The Times
You might not guess from yesterday's numbers that Richardo is an engineering consultant to the motor industry. Full year revenues were dwon 2%, pre-tax profits up 1% and earnings per share ahead 13%. At 271.5p, or 14 times current-year forecasts, and yielding nearly 4 per cent, buy.
CVS Group, Britain's biggest owner of Veterinary practises, bears more passing resemblance to Dignity, the quoted undertaker. At 167p, or 11 times earnings, hold on.
The Daily Telegraph
Investors are abandoning defensive stocks as the markets pick up but there's substantial value to be found, particularly in tobacco stocks. Imperial Tobacco yesterday issued a full-year update that reassured the market on various points. The stock yields a healthy 4.2%. Hold for further gains.
JD Sports Fashion is moving away from the sports retail pack. The chain, which sells sporty casual wear, yesterday said that first-half profit was up by 14%. Trading on 7.6times next year's earnings, the stock yields 2.17%. A strong buy.
TUESDAY
The Daily Telegraph
Alliance Trust, which has assets of almost £2.6bn, has almost 34% of its investments spread in the UK, with just over a fifth in North America. Questor believes Alliance may be an interesting long-term proposition although the current circumstances mean that investors should, for now, avoid.
The Questor column last tipped Northern Foods as a buy in July when the shares were trading at 62p. They have ticked up 71.8p since then but Questor believes they are still worth buying for income seekers. Buy.
The Times
MP Evans, the AIM-listed plantation owner, is one of the stock market's longer-term investments – not least because it takes seven years for its palm oil trees to mature. There shares are a buy for the brave.
The gain this month by hay fever vaccine developer, Allergy Therapeutics is nothing to sneeze at. There shares have risen by 25% in two weeks. However, Allergy is heavily dependent on one market, which means the shares are a buy for the brave.
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