As an investor I love a good bargain. The great news for me is that market volatility in 2023 leaves many top FTSE 100 stocks trading on low earnings multiples and with huge dividend yields.
But how can investors distinguish the brilliant value stocks from the dangerous duds? Some UK shares carry low prices due to their poor quality. And many pose a serious threat to investors’ long-term wealth.
The following high-yield FTSE companies have attracted my attention recently. Could they help me supercharge my returns?
British American Tobacco
Cigarette makers like British American Tobacco (LSE:BATS) manufacture highly-addictive products. While this may raise ethical problems it does bring benefits to investors, as stable product demand provides these businesses with reliable profits and cash flows.
But as someone who invests for the long haul, I’m not convinced these companies’ shares are worth buying. As legislators tighten rules concerning smoking (and, more recently, vaping), the future of such businesses is in severe peril.
British American Tobacco’s share price sank again late last week as US regulators slapped bans on several of its products. The company can no longer sell six of its Vuse Alto flavoured e-cigarettes, including menthol, which is a huge money spinner.
As health concerns mount, the trouble facing Big Tobacco companies is only set to intensify. This explains why British American Tobacco’s share price has shed more than half of its value since 2017.
Today, the firm trades on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 6.4 times. It also carries a mighty 9.8% dividend yield for this year. These low valuations reflect the high chance its share price will keep slumping.
Vodafone Group
Telecoms business Vodafone Group (LSE:VOD) has troubles of its own right now. Not only does it face intense competition in its European and African markets, it also must find a way to grow revenues in its key German market after changes to product bundling regulations struck revenues.
However, unlike British American Tobacco, this FTSE 100 company is a big player in a growing market. The digital transformation and growth in areas like e-commerce, cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) means out dependance on telecoms suppliers is going to increase.
Vodafone is one of my favourite picks in this sector too, due to its emerging market operations. It provides mobile and broadband products and mobile money services to more than 130m customers in Africa. Rapid population growth and rising personal incomes mean that these numbers should continue growing.
Finally, I like the steps new chief executive Margherita Della Valle is taking to bolster earnings growth. These include slimming down its cost base and putting more focus on the Vodafone Business division.
Today, Vodafone shares trade on a forward P/E ratio of 10.6 times. They also carry a 9% dividend yield. On balance I think this is a great FTSE value stock to think about buying.
