I’m searching for the best low-cost UK stocks to buy in December. Here are two perched near the top of my shopping list today.
Green machine
Kingspan (LSE: KGP) shares currently cost less than £1 (they actually trade at 55 euro cents). But the business doesn’t quite fall into penny stock territory.
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This UK stock has a mighty market-cap of €10.8bn. And it’s a heavyweight in the field of building insulation, a market which is undergoing rapid growth. The company’s own revenues soared 33% in the nine months to September.
Energy efficiency is becoming critically important as worries over the climate crisis grow. So investment by businesses and governments in green technologies like insulation paneling are steadily rising.
The British government today rolled out a £1bn scheme to help people insulate their homes with grants. It’s a trend seen over the world and one which Kingspan, thanks to its broad geographic wingspan, is well-placed to exploit.
I’m encouraged by the company’s plans to grow further through profits-boosting acquisitions too. It spend €1bn on bolt-on buys between January and September alone.
Near-term sales could suffer as the global economy cools. But I am encouraged by Kingspan’s resilience despite toughening trading conditions. It expects trading profit to jump 10% in 2022 to €830m, it said this month.
Look ahead
Car retailer Lookers (LSE: LOOK) is another cheap UK share on my radar today. The seller of new and used vehicles trades at 77p per share and has a market-cap of just below £300m.
Like Kingspan, deteriorating economic conditions could slap revenues here in the near term. Sellers of big ticket items like automobiles are particularly vulnerable when times get tough.
Lookers may also have to navigate further stock shortages as supply chain issues plague autobuilders. Jaguar Land Rover last week said it will reduce UK output until the spring because of microchip shortages, for example.
But I’d still buy the retailer today owing to its excellent value for money. It currently trades on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 5.2 times and also carries a market-beating 4% dividend yield.
This valuation provides the scope for solid share price gains. Lookers shares actually surged in mid-October after the firm upgraded its full-year profits forecasts and announced a £15m share repurchase programme.
I’m expecting profits here to grow strongly over the next decade as electric vehicle usage soars. ONS data shows that 44% of Britons are ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ to switch to an all-electric vehicle in that period.
And businesses with a large estate of showrooms plan to benefit particularly strongly as consumers seek face-to-face advice on these new technologies. Lookers operates more than 140 dealerships across the country.
