I think many UK shares are offering good value right now.
Nevertheless, all businesses and stocks come with risks as well as opportunities. So it’s important to research well and choose with care.
Value comes in several shapes
Good value can be defined in more than one way. First, there’s the cheap-on-the numbers approach. It looks for low price-to-earnings ratings, high dividend yields, modest price-to-asset ratings, low debt and other things.
However, that’s not the only method that can be successful. Quality and growth prospects can also be an essential component of overall value.
A third angle is to look for businesses that have the potential to turn themselves around after a period of decline or some shock to the enterprise. Recent examples of that strategy working well can be found in Roll-Royce Holdings and Marks and Spencer, to name just two.
My watchlist is filling up with several UK shares with decent value and long-term investment potential.
For example, telecoms company BT looks like a business with turnaround potential. The directors recently declared that peak capital expenditure had been passed regarding the firm’s fibre broadband rollout.
That suggests the potential for better cash flow ahead and increasing earnings. However, there are plenty of risks. The company had been struggling for years with declining earnings until recently, and the share price has suffered a multi-year crash.
Nevertheless, I’d dig in with deeper research now with a view to perhaps picking up a few of the shares to hold long term.
Income and growth potential
But I also like the look of financial services business Legal & General as a cheap-on-the numbers value play with a big dividend yield.
There are risks though. Perhaps the biggest is that the financial industry is cyclical and that means we could see volatility in earnings, cash flows, dividends and the share price over the coming years.
Nevertheless, I’d consider it along with Hilton Food (LSE: HFG), the UK-based specialist international food packing business.
It’s an international multi-protein producer dealing in quality meat, seafood, vegan and vegetarian foods and meals.
The operation is sizeable and includes 24 “technologically advanced” food processing, packing and logistics facilities located in Europe, Asia Pacific and North America.
In September, the company released its half-year results report featuring “strong profit performance and like-for-like volume growth”.
The outlook statement was upbeat and the directors are focused on growing the business in the coming years. Meanwhile, City analysts expect normalised earnings to shoot up by just over 37% in 2024 and around 7% in 2025.
That all sounds promising but the loss of a contract or failing to secure others may affect the growth trajectory and earnings in the future. Competition is a factor too. The food sector has many attractions because of its steady nature. So it will likely attract several other players that will all want a slice of Hilton Foods’ market share.
Nevertheless, with the share price near 892p, the forward-looking price-to-earnings rating is around 14 for 2025 and the anticipated dividend yield is almost 4%. That valuation looks fair to me, so I’d consider the stock for inclusion in a diversified portfolio now.
