We saw first-half updates from the big banks in the last week of July. And that’s followed by updates from a number of other FTSE 100 companies coming our way in August.
That gives us a good chance to look at what’s coming and think about which ones might be worth buying now. And maybe the month’s updates will be positive enough to give their share prices a boost.
I’m examining three from the FTSE 100 today that I think are cheap.
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Builder
The first is in one of my favourite depressed sectors right now, housebuilding. It’s Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW), due to release first-half figures on 3 August.
In a trading statement in April, the company told us: “The UK housing market remains healthy, underpinned by continued strong customer demand, low interest rates and good mortgage availability“.
Since then, inflation has climbed even higher, and rising energy prices are really starting to bite. What’s happened in the months since could be crucial to where the Taylor Wimpey share price goes next.
But the company has just completed a £150m share buyback, so it hasn’t been short of cash. And forecasts suggest we could see a dividend yield in excess of 8% this year.
Retailer
The high-street retail sector might not be one of my favourites right now. But I do think we might find some good buys among its best companies. And, for a long time, I’ve rated Next (LSE: NXT) as one of the best.
By May’s trading update, sales were growing steadily and the company maintained its guidance for the full year. If it comes off, we’d see £850m in pre-tax profit for 2022, with earnings per share up 5% from the previous year.
My main concern is that Next’s positivity might already be built into the share price. We’re looking at a forecast price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of around 12. That might be modest compared to the long-term FTSE 100 average. But in these tough times it makes me a little hesitant.
Next’s next trading update should be here on 4 August.
Insurer
I’ll finish with another favourite of mine, the financial sector. This time it’s Legal & General (LSE: LGEN), which will report on its half-year progress on 9 August.
Legal & General shares have lost 14% so far in 2022, but they have been picking up a bit since a trading statement in July. The company said: “Solvency is strong, and we expect to deliver double-digit growth in cash and capital generation at H1“.
It sounds like the forthcoming first-half results should be decent, then. But there will surely still be massive uncertainty clouding the second half of the year.
Still, forecasts currently suggest a full-year dividend yield of 7.5%. The firm’s last few years of dividends have been comfortably covered by earnings too, so I see room for optimism.
