In the last year the Gulf Keystone Petroleum (LSE: GKP) share price has increased by 150%. It has risen from 100p to 250p, with the surge in the price of oil contributing to improving investor sentiment. Alongside this, the company’s planned increase in production is expected to yield improved financial performance over the next couple of years.
Despite this, the stock still trades on a relatively low valuation. Alongside another cheap stock which released results on Tuesday, could it be worth buying for the long term?
Improving outlook
As mentioned, the price of oil has risen significantly in recent months. In fact, it is up by around 50% in the last year, and this has improved the outlook for a number of oil and gas producers. It means that the focus on cost-cutting and efficiency of recent years has been transferred to an aim to increase production in many cases, with Gulf Keystone Petroleum set to increase gross production capacity over the next 12 to 18 months.
Looking ahead, the company is expected to deliver a substantial rise in pre-tax profit over the next two years. It is forecast to rise from £14m last year to £49m this year, followed by a further increase to £61m next year. Even though its shares have risen sharply in the last 12 months, they still seem to offer a wide margin of safety. For example, they trade on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 10.5 using 2019’s forecast earnings. This suggests there could be further upside potential.
Certainly, the oil price could be volatile and there is no guarantee that it will continue to rise. However, with what seems to be a bright future, the risk/reward ratio of Gulf Keystone Petroleum appears to be attractive at the present time.
Bargain buy?
Also offering growth at a reasonable price is consumer goods producer McBride (LSE: MCB). It released a trading update on Tuesday that showed it has endured a challenging year. It now expects profit for the full year to be towards the lower end of analyst expectations, with weaker sales in May and June being the primary reason for this.
Clearly, this is disappointing news for investors. However, the company is expected to return to growth in the 2019 financial year, with its bottom line forecast to rise by around 19%. This puts it on a price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio of 0.5, which suggests that it offers a wide margin of safety.
Following McBride’s trading update, its share price fell by around 6%. This suggests that investor sentiment remains weak following a 12-month period in which it has lost a third of its value. However, with the sale of its European Personal Care liquids business for £12.5m being announced on Tuesday and the company having such a low valuation, it could offer impressive returns over the long-term.
