Even though the company is a member of the FTSE 100, Informa (LSE: INF) is overlooked by most investors. With a market capitalisation of £5.5bn, the company is one of the UK’s biggest businesses, but its day-to-day operations are hardly exciting.
Informa runs international exhibitions, events and produces business/academic publications. Even though there is a high demand for these services, growth is slow and steady, which isn’t exciting. But it’s perfect for long-term investors who want to achieve capital growth and income with minimal risk.
Steady growth
Over the past four years, earnings per share have pushed steadily higher, rising from 35.2p for 2012 to 42.1p for 2016. City analysts are expecting the company to report earnings per share of 47p this year, up 12% year-on-year. At the same time, shares in the company support a dividend yield of 3% and the payout of 20.3p per share is covered 2.3 times by EPS. For 2018 analysts have pencilled in earnings per share growth of 7%.
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Considering the company’s historic growth and current level of dividend income, today’s valuation of 14.2 times forward earnings seems to be about right. If the group can continue to grow earnings at a rate of 5% to 10% per annum for the foreseeable future, and the valuation remains the same, investors should be able to pocket a double-digit annual return from both capital growth and income.
Overall, the numbers seem to show that your portfolio might benefit from owning Informa.
Long term growth
The best stocks to retire on are those that have a long-term business model and asset managers, and pension providers are a great example.
Schroders (LSE: SDR) has seen profits explode over the past five years as more customers flocked to the company’s offer. Since 2012 earnings per share have risen by around 100% (based on city estimates for 2017). This growth has translated into impressive returns for shareholders with shares in the firm up 150% over the past five years excluding dividends.
City analysts are expecting the company’s steady growth to continue in the years ahead. Mid-single-digit earnings per share growth is predicted every year for the next three years, and I doubt that the growth will stop there. As one of the UK’s largest wealth managers, Schroders is well placed to capture more business as the country’s wealth rises.
With further growth on the horizon, it looks as if shareholders will continue to reap the rewards for many years.
At the time of writing, shares in the company trade at a forward P/E of 15.7, an undemanding multiple considering Schroders’ growth over the past five years and future potential. The shares also support a dividend yield of 3.2%. The payout is covered twice by EPS. These figures indicate that just like Informa, shares in Schroders could generate a return of 10% per annum or more for investors in the future. Once again, these returns indicate that Schroders could be a great investment to wake up your portfolio.
