As a result of this, on the face of it the offer appears to be a rather enticing one for investors in British Polythene. However, with the company’s shares trading on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just 11.7, it appears to be a less generous offer than at first glance. Certainly, the combined company could deliver improved profitability in the long run, but with British Polythene forecast to record growth in the next two years and having such a low rating, it may have offered superior long term capital gain prospects on its own.

Also rising today are shares in Wincanton (LSE: WIN). The supply chain solutions company’s shares are up by around 7% after it reported an encouraging set of full-year results to 31 March. Revenue increased by 4.4%, with a strong performance being delivered on new business wins and additional volumes in retail general merchandise. This helped the company’s underlying pretax profit to rise by 12.4% versus the prior year, with lower finance and tax charges aiding the company’s financial performance.

Looking ahead, Wincanton is expected to record a rise in its bottom line of 17% next year. This has the potential to cause a step-change in investor sentiment over the medium term, with Wincanton’s price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio of 0.4 indicating that the company offers a wide margin of safety. And with dividends being reintroduced, it appears as though Wincanton’s management team is upbeat about its future prospects which bodes well for the company’s investors.

Meanwhile, Home Retail (LSE: HOME) also reported today. The Argos owner recorded a rise in like-for-like (LFL) sales of 0.1% in the first quarter of the year, with total sales increasing by 2.6% versus the same period of the previous year. However, with gross margins falling by 100 basis points as a result of adverse currency and shipping costs as well as an adverse sales mix, the operating environment for retailers such as Argos remains challenging.

Looking ahead, Home Retail is on-track to be acquired by Sainsbury’s in the third quarter of the year. This seems to be a sound move for both companies since it should generate significant synergies as well as substantial cross-selling opportunities. As such, buying a slice of the combined entity appears to be a sound long term move.

The post Should you buy British Polythene Industries plc, Home Retail Group plc and Wincanton plc after today’s updates? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

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Peter Stephens owns shares of Sainsbury (J). The Motley Fool UK has recommended RPC Group. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

Construction corker

Construction play CRH (LSE: CRH) was mounting a return towards recent record highs above £20 per share on Wednesday after releasing positive first quarter trading numbers.

CRH — which supplies materials to the building industry — advised that sales ticked 9% higher during January-March, a result that was “largely driven by continued positive momentum in the Americas where the economic and business environment remains favourable.” Indeed, sales here rose 22% during the quarter, while turnover in Asia leapt by an impressive 12%.

CRH said that it expects EBITDA for the seasonally-weak first half to clock in around an impressive €1bn. And the firm expects to gain further traction during the second half of the year as market conditions improve across the globe.

The City expects CRH to record a 73% earnings advance this year alone, resulting in a reasonable P/E rating of 16.8 times. And the number topples to 13.9 times in 2017 thanks to a predicted 21% bottom-line uptick. This is a steal given CRH’s terrific growth outlook.

A manufacturing marvel

Plastic manufacturer British Polythene Industries (LSE: BPI) also greeted the market with reassuring news in midweek trading, the stock marching 8% higher as a result.

British Polythene Industries advised that “trading performance in the first quarter has been strong and ahead of management’s expectations,” the company benefitting from lower power costs as well as favourable currency movements.

And it added a further fillip to investors by advising that the sale of its BPI China unit is now expected to result in a £5m gain, up from the prior estimate of £4m.

Earnings are expected to flatline in 2016, although a 4% bounceback is predicted for 2017. These numbers result in ultra-low earnings multiples of 8.6 times and 8.3 times, respectively. While the business may suffer the impact of economic cooling in the near  term, I reckon such risks are more than baked-into the share price at present.

Expensive excavator

Copper mining colossus Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) also updated the market Wednesday concerning recent production activity, although a 0.5% share price fall suggests stock pickers weren’t exactly bowled over.

Antofagasta advised that red metal production had risen to 157,100 tonnes in January-March, up 7.3% year-on-year as the business benefitted from the first full quarter of production from its Zaldívar asset, as well as capacity upgrades at the Antucoya facility. Meanwhile, gold output edged 1.8% higher in the period to 56,700 ounces.

Investor appetite for Antofagasta has cooled more recently as fears have surfaced that commodities including copper are now looking overbought. This is a view I certainly subscribe to, thanks to the murky demand picture and relentless stream of capacity ramp-ups affecting many markets.

The City expects earnings at Antofagasta to explode to 12.1 US cents per share in 2016 from 0.6 cents in 2015, resulting in a P/E rating of 64.7 times. I consider such a reading to be ridiculously high given the firm’s massive risk profile, and believe a significant retracement could therefore be just around the corner.

The post Should you buy Antofagasta plc, CRH plc (UK) and British Polythene Industries plc today? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

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Royston Wild has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

Despite being in line with revised management expectations, DX posted a fall in revenue and pre-tax profit, with the former falling by 3.9% and the latter by 86.9% versus the same period of the previous year. The key reason for this is a challenging trading environment, with DX implementing measures to try and overcome such difficulties.

For example, it has completed the managed exit of a number of unattractive contracts and has enjoyed some success in securing new contracts on more favourable terms. Furthermore, DX believes that it will meet current guidance for the full-year and is focused on positioning itself for long-term growth, with its strategic OneDX programme set to improve financial performance in the coming years. However, it may be a stock to watch rather than buy at the present time given the scope for further short-term disappointment.

Value for money

Also reporting today was British Polythene (LSE: BPI), with its shares rising by 7% after it delivered an increase in pre-tax profit. It rose by over 4% despite revenue coming under pressure after total volumes declined due to lower demand from multiple UK sectors. Sales were also hurt somewhat by reduced polymer prices and the impact of currency headwinds.

But with its North American division moving back into the black, British Polythene’s overall profit improved and this has enabled it to increase dividends for the full-year by 12.5%. This puts it on a yield of 2.8% which, while low, is covered 3.9 times by profit. This indicates that rapid dividend growth is on the cards and with British Polythene trading on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just 9.4, it offers huge upward rerating potential, too.

Despite the challenges that British Polythene faces, it seems to offer excellent value for money. That’s especially the case since earnings are due to rise by 5% in each of the next two years, thereby showing that it’s set to perform relatively well even during a rather difficult period.

Take a risk?

Meanwhile, shares in biotech company Proteome Sciences (LSE: PRM) have risen by over 8% today following the release of an upbeat trading update. The company has reported a positive start to the 2016 financial year, with a strong order book and a growing pipeline in biomarker services.

Notably, following the addition of a further Fusion mass spectrometer in the latter part of 2015, the increased capacity that it brought (through doubling the levels of SysQuant/TMTcalibrator production) is being fully utilised this year. In fact, it has resulted in four customer projects already being completed and an increase in customer enquiries. In addition, partnering has also started well in 2016 and Proteome Sciences is optimistic regarding its long-term prospects.

Clearly, Proteome Sciences may be of interest to less risk-averse investors, although it remains a lossmaking smaller company and therefore, most investors may find more appealing risk/reward ratios elsewhere.

The post Do Today’s Updates Make DX (Group) PLC, British Polythene Industries plc And Proteome Sciences plc 3 ‘Must-Have’ Stocks? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

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• How much is needed in an ISA to unlock £1,220 of passive income a year?
• Forget meal deals! Here’s how £8 a day could be worth £357,000
• With a 7% yield, is this dividend share a no-brainer?
• The CMC Markets share price is smashing the FTSE 100 in 2026. Is there an opportunity here?
• With a yield of 6.8% and a P/E ratio of 12.1, is this a dirt cheap FTSE 250 stock to consider?

Peter Stephens has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

MJ Gleeson

Despite releasing a perky trading update, MJ Gleeson (LSE: GLE) has failed to ignite the market in end-of-week business and was last dealing 2.8% lower. However, I believe that this represents nothing more than profit-booking after the housebuilder’s terrific share price ascent in recent months — MJ Gleeson has gained 27% since the start of March alone.

The company’s Gleeson Homes division confirmed the uptrend washing across the industry, with home sales during the 12 months concluding June clocking in at 751, up an astonishing 34% from fiscal 2014 levels. And with MJ Gleeson’s land bank of owned and conditionally-purchased plots up 63% from last year, I believe the firm should continue to enjoy terrific sales growth well into the future.

This view is shared by the City, and MJ Gleeson is anticipated to follow an anticipated 60% earnings advance in 2015 with a 24% rise in 2016, resulting in very decent P/E ratios of 16.3 times and 13.1 times for these years. Furthermore, this brilliant earnings outlook is anticipated to underpin further growth in the dividend — last year’s 6p per share payment is expected to rise to 8.5p in 2015 and again to 10.1p in the current period, yielding a handy 1.8% and 2.3% respectively.

British Polythene Industries

Similarly, wider macroeconomic fears over the unfolding Greek financial crisis has overshadowed a positive release from British Polythene Industries (LSE: BPI), and shares have failed to react at all with the stock last flat from Thursday’s close. The Greenock business announced that volumes during January-May were ahead of those reported during the corresponding 2015 period, even though high polymer prices hampered margin performance.

Still, British Polythene Industries advised that raw material prices look set to start descending, while its North American markets are also ratcheting through the gears. It is true that the impact of strong sterling against the euro is impacting profitability from its European marketplaces, but I believe the plastics play provides irresistible value at current levels — expectations of a slight earnings drop in 2015 results in a P/E ratio of just 9.5 times, while a predicted 5% uptick in 2016 drives this to 9 times.

And British Polythene Industries’ progressive dividend policy sweetens the investment case, in my opinion. A forecast reward of 16.7p per share for this year compares with 16p in 2014, and yields a respectable 2.5%. And the yield creeps to 2.6% for 2016 due to predictions of a 17.5p payout.

Vodafone Group

It comes as no surprise that telecoms leviathan Vodafone (LSE: VOD) (NASDAQ: VOD.US) is one of the FTSE 100’s biggest casualties in Friday’s session, with the enduring eurozone crisis casting fresh doubts over its revenues credentials on the continent. Indeed, last year’s takeover of Greek broadband provider Ono has done the business no favours at the current time, and the company was last dealing 1.8% lower from yesterday’s close.

And for many, Vodafone’s elevated price may be considered a risk too far given its massive reliance upon Europe. Indeed, P/E multiples of 45.3 times and 37.8 times for the years concluding March 2016 and 2017 correspondingly sail well above the benchmark of 15 times that represents decent value. But for more optimistic investors, signs of resilient recovery on the continent, combined with tearaway demand in Asia, makes Vodafone an irresistible long-term growth pick — the City expects a 1% bottom line improvement this year to accelerate to 15% in 2017.

On top of this, Vodafone’s ability to chuck up plenty of cash also makes it one of the best dividend picks money can buy. Last year’s dividend of 11.22p per share is predicted to remain stable around 11.7p per share through to the close of next year, producing a mammoth yield of 4.9%.

The post Should You Buy These Friday Shakers: MJ Gleeson Plc Ord 2P, British Polythene Industries plc And Vodafone Group plc? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

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Royston Wild has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.