I haven’t even started my Christmas shopping and I’m already on the hunt for cheap shares to buy in the New Year.
I should get my priorities right, but there are some real bargains on the FTSE 100 right now, and I’m keen to snap them up. I’m drawing up my shopping list today and these two stocks are near the top.
British Gas-owner Centrica (LSE: CNA) is almost too cheap to be true, with a trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just 3.9. My concern is they’re always cheap.
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Why is the Centrica share price heavily discounted?
Centrica doesn’t just own the UK’s biggest utility, it also has an upstream oil and gas exploration business and energy trading and marketing arm, among other activities. As a result, the shares flew during the 2022 energy shock.
While they’re still up 92.06% over three years, over 12 months they’re down 9.46%. Personally, I prefer buying shares when they’re out of favour, so that doesn’t worry me.
The shares have jumped up 11.36% in the last month as oil climbed past $73 a barrel. Yesterday (11 December), Centrica announced that full-year profits should match analysts’ estimates and revealed an additional £300m of share buybacks. That will lift the total to £1.5bn since November 2022.
The outlook is bright, although Centrica remains at the mercy of what the board boils down to “weather, commodity prices and asset performance”. I’m also worried that British Gas will lose more customers, as energy supplier switching resumes.
Centrica’s 3.06% yield is modest but given that low valuation and brighter prospects, this is definitely one for me to consider buying in 2025.
Can the Shell share price battle back?
It probably isn’t a coincidence that the second stock on my cheap list is also an oil and gas giant, given the energy price slide. The Shell (LSE: SHEL) share price has slipped 0.95% over the last year, although it’s up 50.17% over three.
As ever, where Shell shares go next will largely be driven by energy prices, and as ever, we don’t know what they’ll do in 2025.
Will US President-elect Donald Trump drive the oil down by ramping up shale supply? Will Chinese demand recover? Or will Saudi Arabia open the spigots? What impact will events in Ukraine have? Everything is up for grabs.
One thing I do know is that energy stocks are cyclical and it’s best to buy them when they’re down. Like now. This involves patiently waiting for an upturn. Which can take time.
Another thing I know is that Shell looks ridiculously good value today with a trailing P/E of 7.58 times. That’s roughly half the FTSE 100 average of 15.8 times. The yield is a relatively modest 4.07% but share buybacks have been flowing at the rate of $3.5bn a quarter. The pace must slow at some point.
The energy transition is a risk but Shell looks better placed than BP. I’ll be all over this stock in January, when I decide how to invest my post-Christmas cash. If I’ve got any left, that is.
