Barclays (LSE: BARC) shares have been on a strong run. Year to date, the stock’s risen 45.3%. In the last 12 months, it’s returned 42.6% to shareholders.
By comparison, the FTSE 100’s up 7.5% and 9.3% across the same timescales. While buying index trackers can prove to be an effective way to build wealth, if I’d invested in Barclays instead I’d be a happy investor.
But it gets even better. As an investor who buys stocks with the aim of holding them for at least five years, it makes sense to take a look at the banking stalwart’s performance over that period. Once again, it’s outperformed the wider index, climbing 49.7% compared to the Footsie’s 11.8% rise.
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While that’s all well and good, it does beg one question: is there any further for Barclays stock to go? Well, I’d answer yes. And if I had the cash, I’d snap up Barclays for my portfolio today. Here’s why.
Cracking value
Despite soaring in the last five years, the stock still looks cheap as chips. For example, its price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio currently sits at a mere 8.9. Granted, all FTSE 100 banks look good value at the moment. Nonetheless, that’s still considerably lower than the Footsie average of 11.
Furthermore, its forward P/E comes in at 6.9. That’s also cheap as chips. And that low valuation looks like a brilliant deal for a business of Barclays quality, in my view.
Another way to portray its cheap price is by looking at the price-to-book (P/B) ratio. This is a more common metric for valuing banks. The firm’s P/B is just 0.5, where 1 is often considered fair value. Again, that highlights that even after its rise, Barclays may have further to go.
The business
But how’s the business shaping up? Granted, the stock looks cheap. But what could be in store for the bank in the coming years?
Well, I think the times ahead could be prosperous. I say that largely due to the recent strategic overhaul the business announced. For years, Barclays had been scrutinised for falling behind its competition. CEO CS Venkatakrishnan has put in motion plans to change this.
As part of this, the firm’s aiming to cut up to £3bn in costs by 2026. To achieve that, Barclays will streamline to operate under five divisions. This should help boost efficiency and increase accountability, according to the bank.
Potential threats
While that does sound exciting, restructuring’s always a threat. Say Barclays doesn’t achieve its targets. That would leave shareholders disappointed and could see its share price suffer.
As well as that, the bank will also be negatively impacted by falling interest rates. The Bank of England cut the base rate by 0.25% to 5% in August. Further cuts are likely in the months ahead. This will shrink Barclays’s margins which, in turn, will squeeze its profits.
I’d buy today
But while the business may face some short-term volatility, I see real long-term value in the stock even after its impressive performance in recent times. I reckon it could be one of the best bargains on the FTSE 100.
I’m hoping to have some investable cash over the coming weeks. I’ll be picking up some shares.
