Today I am looking at three earnings stars that are currently dealing at irresistible prices.
A financial star
With its insurance products flying off the shelves across the globe, and its extensive restructuring drive still delivering handsome returns, I believe Aviva (LSE: AV) is a terrific selection for those seeking long-term earnings expansion.
Indeed, Aviva saw new business volumes in its core UK and Ireland division leap an impressive 39% — to £415m — between October and December, while a 24% surge across its Asian units — to £115m — underlines the long-term potential of these growth markets.
The number crunchers expect Aviva to bounce from an anticipated 18% earnings decline in 2015 with a 17% advance in the current year, and further gains are predicted thereafter. As a consequence the insurer deals on an prospective P/E rating of 8.9 times, while a sub-1 PEG number of 0.5 times further highlights Aviva’s exceptional value.
A housing hero
Due to the worsening supply/demand imbalance washing across Britain’s housing sector, I believe homebuilder Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) is also a terrific selection for those seeking stellar earnings growth.
Data from the Land Registry released today showed that the average house price rose 2.5% in January, to £191,812, the largest month-on-month gain since 2002. And the shortage of available homes versus prospective buyers was underlined by news that house sales averaged 78,652 between August and November 2015, down from 81,656 in the corresponding 2014 period.
Against this backcloth the City expects Taylor Wimpey to enjoy a 16% earnings rise in 2016 alone, leaving the business dealing on a P/E rating of 10.8 times. And a PEG readout of 0.7 underlines the builder’s spectacular value relative to its growth outlook.
Tech titan to rise again
Investor appetite for tech giant Apple (LSE: AAPL) has nosedived more recently amid signs of slumping global demand for its products.
Apple saw sales of its critical iPhone rise just 0.4% during October-December to 75.8m units. And demand for its iPad tablet fell off a cliff in the period — quarterly sales of 16.1 million devices represented an eye-watering 25% decline from the prior year.
Still, I believe the company’s brilliant record of innovation should continue to deliver stunning long-term profits growth. Sure, global smartphone sales may be slowing from previous years. But I believe Apple’s ‘rockstar’ reputation should allow it to traverse the worst of the current cooldown, while its diversification into rapidly-rising sectors like smartwatches also provides plenty of opportunity.
The City expects Apple to endure a 1% earnings slip in the period to September 2016 thanks to current sales bumpiness. However, this number still produces a terrific P/E rating of 10.6 times — a reading around or below 10 times is widely considered bargain-basement territory.
And the number crunchers expect the Cupertino colossus to get a handle on its current travails and punch a 10% earnings rebound in fiscal 2017, driving the earnings multiple to an even-better 9.7 times. I believe this represents unmissable value for such a high-quality stock.
