Should You Invest In Car Stars Carclo plc Or GKN plc?

Royston Wild examines the investment case for Carclo plc (LON: CAR) and GKN plc (LON: GKN).

| More on:

The content of this article was relevant at the time of publishing. Circumstances change continuously and caution should therefore be exercised when relying upon any content contained within this article.

You’re reading a free article with opinions that may differ from The Motley Fool’s Premium Investing Services. Become a Motley Fool member today to get instant access to our top analyst recommendations, in-depth research, investing resources, and more. Learn More.

Today I am detailing the exceptional earnings prospects of two auto parts giants.

Investor appetite driving higher

Shares in Carclo (LSE: CAR) have gone absolutely gangbusters during Wednesday trading, and the business was recently dealing 10% higher from the previous close. Investors have continued to pile in following Tuesday’s bubbly trading update, giving the industrial chemicals play — which had conceded a third of its value since May up until yesterday’s release — rare reason for cheer.

Carclo advised that total revenues leapt 17% during April-September, to £57.2m, a result that propelled underlying pre-tax profit to £41m, an 80% rise.

The company had its LED Technologies arm — which builds lights for the automotive industry — to thanks for its stratospheric sales surge, with revenues here galloping 48% higher in the period to £21.2m. And I expect revenues to continue to climb as auto sales, and in particular those across the ‘luxury’ sector, march higher in the years ahead.

And despite today’s stellar share price rise, I believe that Carclo still provides terrific value for money. The West Yorkshire business is expected to experience a 20% earnings blast in the 12 months to March 2016, resulting in an ultra-low P/E ratio of 11.7 times. And this moves below the bargain barometer of 10 times for fiscal 2017, a further 21% bottom-line bounce pushing the reading to just 9.7 times.

These brilliant earnings predictions are anticipated to drive dividends significantly higher, too. Last year’s payment of 2.75p per share is predicted to jump to 3p in 2016, yielding a handy 2.7%. And a projected dividend of 3.3p per share for the following year pushes the yield to 3%.

Revenues poised to accelerate

Life has been similarly tough for auto and aero parts supplier GKN (LSE: GKN) during 2015, the Redditch business having surrendered 18% of its stock price value during the past six months alone. On top of fears over slowing Chinese car demand, the manufacturer has been dented more recently by the impact of Volkswagen’s emissions scandal on its sales outlook.

While it is true the German car giant is a key client for GKN, recent broker analysis suggests that the impact of declining VW sales on the UK firm’s top line is likely to be negligible. Indeed, I for one believe GKN’s top-tier supplier status to the world’s largest carbuilders makes it a great growth picks for the years ahead, while galloping demand for passenger aircraft should drive demand for its aerospace products, too.

Despite an expected 10% earnings slip in 2015 GKN changes hands on a mega-low P/E rating of just 10.6 times. And this number drops to 10.4 times for next year thanks to predictions of a 3% bottom-line uptick.

In addition, predicted dividends of 8.8p and 9.3p per share for 2015 and 2016 correspondingly carry chunky yields of 3.1% and 3.3%. I believe both GKN and Carclo are great engineering picks for savvy value seekers.

Royston Wild owns shares of GKN. The Motley Fool UK owns shares of GKN. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

More on Investing Articles

Santa Clara offices of NVIDIA
Investing Articles

£5,000 invested in Nvidia stock 6 months ago is now worth…

Nvidia stock's taking a breather at the moment. But it could be getting ready for its next move higher, says…

Read more »

British coins and bank notes scattered on a surface
Investing Articles

I hold Lloyds. Is it madness to buy Barclays shares too?

Harvey Jones is keen to buy Barclays shares but wonders whether he's simply doubling down, given that he already holds…

Read more »

Asian man looking concerned while studying paperwork at his desk in an office
Investing Articles

It’s time we all took a long, cold look at the Lloyds share price

The Lloyds share price has been good to Harvey Jones, making him a huge fan of the FTSE 100 bank.…

Read more »

Warren Buffett at a Berkshire Hathaway AGM
Investing Articles

Warren Buffett didn’t retire early. But could his investing wisdom help you do so?

Warren Buffett's wisdom from decades of stock market investing is actionable even for a modest investor who simply aims to…

Read more »

Young female hand showing five fingers.
Investing Articles

5 compelling investment ideas for a Stocks and Shares ISA in 2026

Edward Sheldon discusses some ideas to consider for a Stocks and Shares ISA and highlights a UK stock that could…

Read more »

Man writing 'now' having crossed out 'later', 'tomorrow' and 'next week'
Investing Articles

Is this the best time to buy shares in a long time?

Earlier this week, Bill Ackman stated on X that this is the best time to buy shares in a long…

Read more »

A senior man and his wife holding hands walking up a hill on a footpath looking away from the camera at the view. The fishing village of Polperro is behind them.
Investing Articles

£1,000 buys 35 shares in an incredibly reliable FTSE 100 dividend stock

Despite falling 72% from their highs, shares in this FTSE 100 company have been an incredibly reliable source of dividend…

Read more »

Warren Buffett at a Berkshire Hathaway AGM
Investing Articles

This is what Warren Buffett has to say about passive income — and I’m listening!

While searching for new ways to earn passive income, our writer takes to heart sage advice from the Oracle of…

Read more »