So in this article I list three of my top consumer picks: one is a mainstream retailer, one is a premium fashion brand, and one is an electrical retailer. All three are my consumer kings.

Next

Next (LSE: NXT) is perhaps Britain’s greatest retail success story. Over the past decade the share has been on an incredible bull run, but the last year Next has seen its share price tumble.

Yet, as far as I can see this is still one of the world’s most impressive retailers, and as well as its very strong position in the UK, it’s expanding rapidly overseas, and particularly into emerging markets.

That’s why this is the ideal time to buy into this firm. What’s more, renowned fund manager Neil Woodford agrees, and has recently invested in the business.

Earnings are consistent and are still trending upwards, albeit more gradually. Yet Next is good value, at a current P/E ratio of 12.04, and pays out a 2.85% dividend yield.

Burberry

That characteristic Burberry check, in shades of beige, is what many people still think of when you mention Burberry (LSE: BRBY). But check out the website and you’ll find a broad range of high-end clothes and accessories that are a fresh take on British fashion and show how Burberry has transformed itself.

Like Next, Burberry has trended higher and higher, but has fallen back recently. Yet this is a company that’s still a very consistent cash generator. And the share price falls mean this is the perfect time for canny contrarians to invest.

At the height of the bull run, I would have said that Burberry was too expensive to buy into, but now the P/E ratio is 14.18, with a dividend yield of 3.34%. The income is well covered by profits and I expect it to gradually be increased over time.

Dixons Carphone

The shake-out of retail companies has left Dixons Carphone (LSE: DC.) as one of the big winners. Since the dark days of the Great Recession, this company has been turned around. For me personally, it’s now the go-to retailer if you want to buy a smartphone, computer, laptop, fridge or dishwasher.

It basically covers the whole of the electronic retail space in the UK. And what’s more, all the naysayers who thought that bricks-and-mortar retail was going to be beaten all ends up by the internet have been proved wrong. I think Dixons Carphone very often thumps Amazon on price, as well as quality.

The company has moved upmarket and its products are basically the best that you can find in the market today. I tipped the firm three years ago, and since then the share price has doubled. But I think there’s more to come from this business.

Earnings continue to trend upwards, and the 2016 P/E ratio is a reasonable 14.36, with a dividend yield of 2.37%.

The post Are Next plc, Burberry plc and Dixons Carphone plc 3 consumer kings? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

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

This means that, while Goals was forecast to post a pretax profit of £10.9m for the full-year, it now expects pretax profit to be between £9.3m and £9.8m. While not as impressive as previously expected, it would still represent a significant increase on the £6.7m pretax profit that was posted last year. As such, the company’s share price decline appears to have been something of an overreaction, with Goals still having huge expansion potential in the US where its Los Angeles centre is performing extremely well and delivered a 22% rise in sales in the first half of the year.

Furthermore, Goals trades on a price to earnings (P/E) ratio of just 10.2 which, despite today’s disappointment, seems to be rather low. That’s especially the case since Goals will beef up its marketing campaign so as to encourage more bookings and also has the potential to expand in the US, which is a rapidly growing market in terms of the popularity of football/soccer. As such, Goals seems to be a relatively risky, but potentially very rewarding, buy at the present time.

Of course, other UK-focused consumer stocks also have considerable appeal. Online fashion retailer Boohoo.Com (LSE: BOO) has also faced a testing recent period, with its share price having declined by 15% since the turn of the year. However, just as with Goals, it has the scope to turn recent disappointing performance around, with Boohoo.Com’s earnings set to rise by 42% in the current year, and by a further 25% next year. This means that its earnings could be as much as 78% higher next year than they were last year, which is likely to have a positive impact on investor sentiment.

In addition, Restaurant Group (LSE: RTN) is another appealing consumer stock. It is a very stable performer, having increased its earnings in each of the last five years at an annualised rate of 11%. Given that the UK has been in a tough economic period for at least two of those years, such a strong financial performance is hugely impressive. And, looking ahead, Restaurant Group is expected to deliver a rise in its earnings of 13% this year, followed by 12% next year. This puts it on a price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio of just 1.5 which, given its defensive attributes, seems to be a bargain.

Because of this, and while all three stocks appear to be worth buying, the stability of Restaurant Group makes it stand out as the preferred option at the present time. Furthermore, with Boohoo.Com performing well right now, it appears to offer less risk than Goals and at least as high a potential return.

The post As Goals Soccer Centres plc Dives 20%, Are Boohoo.Com PLC And Restaurant Group PLC Better Small-Cap Investments? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

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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.