I reckon it’s a good idea to invest in a few good quality FTSE 100 shares. I think these two pay decent dividend yields and have reasonable prospects for growing their dividends a little each year from where we are today.
Meanwhile, each firm has an undemanding valuation, which bodes well for future expansion of their share prices.
Retailing
FTSE 100 clothing, footwear, accessories and home products retailer Next (LSE: NXT) looks set to become a survivor in what has become a difficult sector. I think that’s because of the success of its catalogue and online sales strategy working in harmony with the store estate.
The second-quarter trading update released at the end of July revealed to us that sales and profits edged up by modest single-digit percentages in the period. I think that’s a far better trading outcome than many struggling retailers have been experiencing lately.
The good trading was better than the directors had previously anticipated and they increased full-price sales guidance for the second half of the year to an anticipated increase of 3% rather than 1.7% as stated earlier. Things are moving in the right direction and I think the stock is attractive.
At the recent share price close to 6,007p, the forward-looking earnings multiple runs just below 13 for the trading year to January 2021 and the anticipated dividend yield is around 2.9%. City analysts following the firm are pencilling in modest increases in the dividend ahead. I think Next looks like a stalwart that I’d be happy to add to my portfolio.
Paper and packaging
Despite delivering decent-looking half-year financial numbers with its interim report at the beginning of August, paper and packaging firm Mondi (LSE: MNDI) saw its share price fall back on the news.
I think the move happened because the stock market is always looking ahead and trying to anticipate trading down the line. The figures were good, yes, but chief executive Peter Oswald said in the report they were achieved “against a backdrop of increasingly challenging trading conditions.” That, I reckon, was enough to spook the market.
But Oswald went on to say the firm’s “relentless” focus on continuous improvement is set to lessen the impact of trading pressures in the firm’s markets. I reckon the firm’s multi-year record of steady growth in revenue, earnings, cash flow and the dividend bodes well for future progress, despite any macro-economic wobbles we might see from time to time.
I like the stock and see the current weakness in the share price as an opportunity to hop aboard the story on better terms. The recent share price close to 1,595p throws up a forward-looking earnings multiple of just over nine for 2020 and the anticipated dividend yield is a little under 5%. I think that looks like decent value.
