Tag Archives: Vodafone Group

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Will GlaxoSmithKline, HSBC Holdings, and Vodafone Group Push the FTSE 100 to Record Highs?

Leave a comment

By David O’Hara, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

LONDON — Shares of pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline  have performed well in the last month. While the FTSE 100 is down 1.5%, Glaxo is up 4.5%. Since the beginning of the year, Glaxo shares are up 16.3%. That’s a stonking performance for such a large company.

According to analyst forecasts, the shares are expected to pay 77.6 pence of dividends for the year. At today’s price, that equates to a yield of 5%.

The average FTSE 100 company trades on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio around 15.2 times forecast earnings. Sitting on a P/E today of 13.3, Glaxo is trading at a significant discount. That seems unfair for such a successful and reliable company.

HSBC
At current prices, HSBC  makes up 7.8% of the FTSE 100. It shares have the most influence on the FTSE 100.

The banking giant currently trades on just 10.7 times consensus forecasts for 2013. Considering the resilience that HSBC has demonstrated during an industry crisis, that’s pretty mean.

There is no escaping the fact that bank shares remain very unpopular. However, I am beginning to see signs that politicians are tiring of banker bashing. The media is also starting to move on, as writers run out of new angles on old stories.

HSBC is forecast to grow earnings next year, putting the shares on a 2014 P/E of 9.4, with a prospective yield of 5.3%.

Vodafone
Recent speculation over the future of Vodafone‘s U.S. mobile investment in Verizon Wireless has pushed the shares to their highest level since 2007.

Making up almost 6% of the FTSE 100 by itself, the market‘s recent setback would have been more painful for index investors without the telecom giant’s recent rally.

While Vodafone is not likely to push the FTSE 100 to a 10-year high by itself, a new high for 2013 could be achieved. A sale of Vodafone’s stake in Verizon Wireless, or a takeover approach for Vodafone, could push the shares as high as 250 pence. A 25% rise in Vodafone’s share price would see the FTSE 100 rise beyond 6,500.

In the absence of a takeover, shareholders will be comforted by a reliable dividend stream. Vodafone is expected to pay 10.7 pence in the current calendar year, a 5.6% yield at today’s price.

These three big blue-chips may hold a dominant position in their markets today but are they safe to tuck away for the long term? Analysts here at The Motley Fool have prepared a new report “5 Shares to Retire On” with the lowdown on their five top income stocks to own for the years ahead. Just click here to get your free copy of this report today.

link

The article Will GlaxoSmithKline, HSBC Holdings, and Vodafone Group Push the FTSE 100 to Record Highs? originally appeared on Fool.com.


David owns shares in Vodafone but none of the other companies mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends GlaxoSmithKline and Vodafone Group.

From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/12/will-glaxosmithkline-hsbc-holdings-and-vodafone-gr/

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Noteworthy ETF Outflows: VGK, BP, VOD, TOT

Leave a comment

By ETFChannel.com

Looking today at week-over-week shares outstanding changes among the universe of ETFs covered at ETF Channel, one standout is the Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (AMEX: VGK) where we have detected an approximate $162.2 million dollar outflow — that’s a 2.8% decrease week over week (from 118,815,217 to 115,516,196). Among the largest underlying components of VGK, in trading today BP p.l.c. (NYSE: BP) is off about 0.8%, Vodafone Group plc (NASD: VOD) is up about 0.4%, and Total S.A. (NYSE: TOT) is higher by about 0.2%. For a complete list of holdings, visit the VGK Holdings page » …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Markets

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

5 FTSE 100 Shares You Should Have Bought in March

Leave a comment

By Alan Oscroft, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

LONDON — It’s easy to look back on the past month and pick the biggest risers. But it’s a bit harder to decide which ones might have further to go, especially when we’re looking at closely followed FTSE 100 shares.

But here’s my pick of five March winners which I think could still have further shareholder value yet to be realized:

Vodafone
How often do 92 billion pound giants enjoy double-digit growth in just a month? Vodafone Group  did during March, as its shares soared 20.5 pence (12.4%) to 186 pence. The shares had fallen during the tail-end of 2012, but they’re now up 20% since the start of the new year.

The recent rise is partly due to renewed speculation that Vodafone will sell off its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless and pay a large one-off special dividend. But even after the rise, there are still annual dividends of between 5% and 6% on the cards, with the shares on a forward price-to-earnings ratio of around 12 — there’s plenty of scope for further rewards there.

J Sainsbury
I came close to highlighting Wm. Morrison Supermarkets, whose shares recovered a healthy 5.5% over the month, but that was eclipsed by a more impressive 8.7% rise from J Sainsbury , taking its shares up 30 pence to 376 pence and setting a new 52-week record in the process.

A fourth-quarter trading update released on March 19 told us that total sales for the 10 weeks to 16 March were up 7.1%, with like-for-like sales up 4.2%. But have you missed out on the rise? Well, Sainsbury’s shares are still on a forward P/E of less than 13, lower than the FTSE 100 average, and there’s a 4.5% dividend forecast — the boat has not yet sailed.

AstraZeneca
For some time, investors have feared that the dependence of AstraZeneca  on the blockbuster drugs model could leave it vulnerable to the expiry of its patents and to increasing competition from generic drugs.

But on March 21, chief executive Pascal Soriot announced plans for the company to “return to growth” and “achieve scientific leadership”. There will be no deviation from AstraZeneca’s basic business model, though, with Soriot insisting: “Our vision is clear — to be a global biopharmaceutical company with a focused portfolio in core therapy areas, underpinned by distinctive science and a growing late-stage pipeline.”

The shares leapt on the news, gaining 253 pence (8.4%) over the month to reach 3,248 pence. It could be the start of something good.

BAE Systems
An engineer doing well? Yes, BAE Systems  shares picked up 29 pence during March for an 8% rise to 384 pence, which makes a gain of 42% since a June 2012 low of 270 pence. Since last summer, we’ve had a full-year dividend yield of 5.8%, and forecasts put the yield for this year at 5.2%. And that’s from shares which, though they have soared, are still on a forward P/E of only 9.

Now, there might be some people who don’t think …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

The Beginners' Portfolio: Vodafone and Tesco Are in the News

Leave a comment

By Alan Oscroft, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

LONDON — This article is the latest in a series that aims to help novice investors with the stock market. To enjoy past articles in the series, please visit our full archive.

What should you do when your portfolio is complete? One possibility is to just do nothing, and it’s a great option. But I like to keep an eye on the news, and think about whether it changes my mind on the buy/sell status of each holding.

So here’s a look at some of our shares that have been in the news recently:

Vodafone
One of the reasons I like Vodafone Group  , in addition to that juicy dividend yield of 5%-6%, is its international status, and that’s helped the company to some very nice new contracts.

After February’s deal to provide German giant ThyssenKrupp with mobile phone services, Vodafone went gone on to land a 10-year contract with the New Zealand police force early this month. And last week, a partnership was agreed with Poland’s Polkomtel to extend international services to the 14 million users of its “plus” brand.

Fresh reports, in The Sunday Times and other papers, have been surfacing over the potential sale of Vodafone’s 45% stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon. I’m not sure about that, because I like the dividend that Vodafone gets from Verizon — but a sale could net shareholders a bumper special dividend. We’ll see, but at 183 pence, Vodafone remains a firm buy for me.

Tesco
I’m pretty happy with Tesco  as well, as the share price has responded well to the management’s turnaround strategy, reaching 376 pence today. Earlier this month, the U.K.’s biggest supermarket announced the purchase of the Giraffe restaurant chain, bagging 49 restaurants for a little under 49 million pounds.

Such diversification might upset some, but Tesco has prospered through innovation and has pretty much driven the evolution of supermarket shopping in the U.K. I think this is a good deal, and I reckon opening more of these family friendly restaurants in its bigger stores will help keep shoppers inside for longer. Tesco is certainly still a buy.

BP
In 2003, BP  invested $8 billion in its 50% share of the newly formed TNK-BP, and last week announced its attention to sell that stake to the Russian state oil company Rosneft. BP will get $12.5 billion for it, and will return the equivalent of the original $8 billion to shareholders.

BP has disposed of assets in order to raise the cash needed for its Gulf of Mexico disaster costs, and is still in negotiation regarding some claims that are possibly inflated or even faked. So, I think I’d have been happier for BP to hang on to the TNK-BP cash until all compensation claims are settled. But with today’s price of 459 pence putting the shares on a forward P/E of only 8 and with a 5% dividend yield expected, I’m still happy this is a buy.

Rio Tinto
The Rio Tinto  price fall, to 3,125 pence, has been …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Verizon Hopes to Gobble Up Verizon Wireless

Leave a comment

By Travis Hoium, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Verizon has made acquiring the 45% of Verizon Wireless it doesn’t already own a priority for 2013. But Vodafone won’t give it up for cheap. Erin Miller sat down with analyst Travis Hoium to discuss the options for both companies and the whopping price tag Verizon Wireless may carry. 

(Note: The audio is low so turn up your speakers!)

Profiting from our increasingly global economy can be as easy as investing in your own backyard. The Motley Fool’s free report, “3 American Companies Set to Dominate the World,” shows you how. Click here to get your free copy before it’s gone.

The article Verizon Hopes to Gobble Up Verizon Wireless originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Travis Hoium has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Vodafone Group. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

(function(c,a){window.mixpanel=a;var b,d,h,e;b=c.createElement(“script”);
b.type=”text/javascript”;b.async=!0;b.src=(“https:”===c.location.protocol?”https:”:”http:”)+
‘//cdn.mxpnl.com/libs/mixpanel-2.2.min.js’;d=c.getElementsByTagName(“script”)[0];
d.parentNode.insertBefore(b,d);a._i=[];a.init=function(b,c,f){function d(a,b){
var c=b.split(“.”);2==c.length&&(a=a[c[0]],b=c[1]);a[b]=function(){a.push([b].concat(
Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments,0)))}}var g=a;”undefined”!==typeof f?g=a[f]=[]:
f=”mixpanel”;g.people=g.people||[];h=[‘disable’,’track’,’track_pageview’,’track_links’,
‘track_forms’,’register’,’register_once’,’unregister’,’identify’,’alias’,’name_tag’,
‘set_config’,’people.set’,’people.increment’];for(e=0;e<h.length;e++)d(g,h[e]);
a._i.push([b,c,f])};a.__SV=1.2;})(document,window.mixpanel||[]);
mixpanel.init("9659875b92ba8fa639ba476aedbb73b9");

function addEvent(obj, evType, fn, useCapture){
if (obj.addEventListener){
obj.addEventListener(evType, fn, useCapture);
return true;
} else if (obj.attachEvent){
var r = obj.attachEvent("on"+evType, fn);
return r;
}
}

addEvent(window, "load", function(){new FoolVisualSciences();})
addEvent(window, "load", function(){new PickAd();})

var themeName = 'dailyfinance.com';
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-24928199-1']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);

(function () {

var ga = document.createElement('script');
ga.type = 'text/javascript';
ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';

var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Should I Borrow to Invest in AstraZeneca, National Grid, and Vodafone Group?

Leave a comment

By Harvey Jones, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

LONDON — Crazy days! Interest rates have been stuck at all-time lows for more than four years, and the first rate hike could be another four years away. This has led to some crazy anomalies.

You can now get a five-year fixed-rate mortgage charging just 2.74%, up to 60% loan-to-value (LTV), or a 10-year deal at 3.99%, up to 75% LTV (subject to status, as they say).

At the same time, you can earn a yield of 5% and 6% by investing in solid FTSE 100 favorites, plus the prospect of capital growth if QE-fuelled markets keep rising.

I wouldn’t normally urge you to borrow to invest in shares, because gearing adds an extra layer of risk. But does it make sense today?

Borrow and buy
Do you expect your portfolio to deliver a total return of more than 4% a year over the next decade? I certainly do. If so, and if you’ve got enough spare equity in your home to access a best-buy home loan, then, maybe, just maybe, you should be in less of a hurry to pay down that mortgage.

If you’re tempted, I would suggest taking out a long-term fixed-rate loan, preferably for 10 years, so your plans aren’t scuppered by a sudden upward lurch in interest rates.

To add an extra layer of security, you could then invest into a fat FTSE high-yielder or three. Dividend income is taxable, so, if you’re bold enough to follow this controversial course, use your ISA allowance.

I’ll leave you to find out the cheapest way to borrow money, but here are three stocks you might consider investing in.

AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca  currently yields a base-rate-busting 6.1%. Pharmaceutical stocks are supposed to be defensive, but it is some years since this one has appeared solid at the back. AstraZeneca scored an embarrassing own goal with its $15.6 billion acquisition of Medimmune in 2007, while sales and revenues have plunged lately, as lucrative drug patents expire, and the pipeline of new products remains blocked. New chief executive Pascal Soriot has just announced a major reorganization, axing 1,600 jobs, and investing in new research and development (R&D) centres in the U.S., U.K. and Sweden, in a bid to “put science at the heart of everything we do” and improve R&D productivity. The overhaul will last for three uncertain years.

These disappointments have knocked AstraZeneca’s valuation, which trades on a mere seven times earnings, roughly half the FTSE 100 average. Given its forecast earnings per share (EPS) growth of -19% in 2013, and -3% in 2014, that lowly valuation looks richly deserved. But it does give the share price plenty of scope to recover, if Soriot gets his strategy right. Despite its recent troubles, AstraZeneca is up 7% over the past 12 months, giving a total return of 13%. AstraZeneca is also the biggest single holding in dividend dangerman Neil Woodford‘s Invesco-Perpetual High Income fund, at 8.53%, and he tends to get these things right in the longer …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Why Vodafone Is Poised to Outperform

Leave a comment

By Brian Pacampara, Pacampara, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool’s free investing community, U.K. mobile giant Vodafone Group has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at Vodafone and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Vodafine facts

Headquarters (founded)

Newbury, U.K. (1984)

Market Cap

$137.4 billion

Industry

Wireless telecommunication services

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$71.8 billion

Management

CEO Vittorio Colao (since 2008)
CFO Andrew Halford (since 2005)

Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)

6.2%

Cash/Debt

$12.2 billion / $57.1 billion

Dividend Yield

3.7%

Competitors

AT&T
France Telecom
Telefonica

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 95% of the 1,328 members who have rated Vodafone believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Earlier this month, one of those Fools, Option1307, succinctly summed up the bull case for community:

[Vodafone] owns a large stake in Verizon wireless and the market is not recognizing this. Add into the mix that Verizon currently pays [Vodafone] a nice dividend annually for their Verizon wireless stake and that this is a David Einhorn pick and the odds are in your favor!

Picked up some shares at [$26] and will hold until this thesis plays out or things drastically change. You get a pretty nice dividend to sit and wait as well so no reason to hurry and sell this one.

If you want market-thumping returns, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Of course, despite a strong four-star rating, Vodafone may not be your top choice.

We’ve found another stock we are incredibly excited about — excited enough to dub it “The Motley Fool’s Top Stock for 2013.” We have compiled a special free report for investors to uncover this stock today. The report is 100% free, but it won’t be here forever, so click here to access it now.

Want to see how well (or not so well) the stocks in this series are performing? Follow the TrackPoisedTo CAPS account.

The article Why Vodafone Is Poised to Outperform originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Brian Pacampara has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends France Telecom (ADR) and Vodafone. The Motley Fool owns shares of France Telecom (ADR). Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

What You Were Selling Last Week: Vodafone Group

Leave a comment

By Jon Wallis, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

LONDON — One of Warren Buffett‘s famous investing sayings is “be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful” — or, in other words, sell when others are buying and buy when they’re selling.

But we might expect Foolish investors to know that, and looking at what Fools have been selling recently might well provide us with some ideas for investments that are past their prime

So, in this series of articles, we’re going to look at what customers of The Motley Fool ShareDealing Service have been selling in the past week or so, and what might have made them decide to do so.

Six-month high
Less than a month ago, Vodafone was at the No. 1 spot in the “Top Ten Buys” list* — so what’s happened to put it at the top of the “Sells” list?

Well, for one thing, its share price hit a six-month high last week, reaching almost 188 pence during March 11, a level not seen since August last year. After the company’s somewhat roller-coaster progress since then — it dipped as low as 154 pence at the end of 2012 — people may have felt inclined to take some profits.

They may also have started having some concerns about Vodafone’s future. The surge in Vodafone’s price last week came on the back of strong rumors that U.S. telecom leader Verizon Communications was considering the future of its relationship with the UK..-based telecom giant. Perhaps Verizon will buy Vodafone out of its 45% share of Verizon Wireless — currently estimated to be worth around $115 billion (77 billion pounds) — or else there might be a merger which, if it happened, would be the biggest in corporate history. (In reality, Verizon would effectively buy Vodafone, but it’d be called a “merger” to keep everyone happy.)

While selling its stake in Verizon Wireless would give Vodafone a considerable lump sum to play with, it would also mean the loss of a generous cash-cow — Verizon Wireless generated a dividend of over $3.8 billion (2.5 billion pounds) for Vodafone at the end of 2012, and $4.5 billion (3 billion pounds) the year before.

And any potential merger would not be without considerable attendant risks. Large corporate mergers and acquisitions have a habit of being deeply disappointing, if not deadly — think AOL/Time Warner, HP/Compaq or (and also in the telecoms industry) Sprint/Nextel — with more failing to achieve their financial goals than succeeding. Any short-term gain in Vodafone’s value generated by the excitement of impending nuptials could easily be more than wiped out in the long-term by a failed marriage.

So perhaps some people decided to take some profit now from Vodafone’s improved share price, on the back of the initial rumors, and then wait and see what happens.

A high-quality income share
Many people will have bought Vodafone for its dividend, currently 5.2%. Here at the Fool, our analysts have been focused on finding The Motley Fool’s Top …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Should I Buy Vodafone Group for My ISA?

Leave a comment

By Alan Oscroft, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

LONDON — ISA time is almost upon us again, and we’ll soon have a brand new, tax-efficient, allowance of 11,520 pounds to invest in a stocks and shares ISA for the financial year starting April 6. That’s on top of this year’s allowance of 11,280 pounds, which must be used by April 5. (For more information on ISAs, just click here.)

So whether you’re looking for something for your next allowance, or whether you need some ideas for using up this year’s subscription before it’s too late, what should you choose? Well, the tax-efficient status of an ISA adds a nice extra to the benefits that can accrue from decades of investing.

And for me, that means going for the biggest and best of our companies — the ones that dominate their fields, and which are likely to keep on rewarding us for 10, 20 years, and more.

Should I buy Vodafone for my ISA?
And I reckon Vodafone Group  , on a current share price of 179 pence, fits firmly in that category. But why?

First of all, with a market cap of 88 billion pounds, Vodafone is one of the biggest — it’s actually the third-largest company within the FTSE 100 at the moment.

But more than that, it’s international, and while other mobile-phone operators might be struggling for thin slices of the U.K. pie, Vodafone does about only 12% of its business here. The rest is spread over Europe, India, Africa, the Middle East — and of course the USA, where Vodafone owns 45% of Verizon Wireless, part of Verizon Communications.

Recent talk of a merger between Vodafone and Verizon gave a boost to Vodafone’s share price, though it seems unlikely that such an alliance will materialize. But a good few observers are betting on a sale of Vodafone’s Verizon stake instead, at a nice price for the British group’s shareholders.

In-demand technology
It was Vodafone’s global reach that helped it secure a new contract with German company ThyssenKrupp last month. The deal will see Vodafone providing mobile communications in Germany and 29 other countries, involving 60,000 mobile voice and data connections, and 50,000 machine-to-machine connections. And on March 8, a 10-year deal to supply the New Zealand Police with mobile communications was announced.

Back in the U.K., Vodafone paid the largest amount for the biggest chunk of broadband spectrum in the recent 4G auction, which ended in February, shelling out 790 million pounds. Although revenue from voice calls across Europe is falling in a saturated market, the demand for data services is really still in its infancy — and the winning auction bids could put Vodafone firmly at the leading edge.

Steady income
As a mature company, Vodafone pays a steady dividend.

The payout has been rising steadily, and during the past five years it has provided an annual yield ranging from 5% to 6.3%, which is among the best for FTSE 100 companies. Forecasts for the next three years suggest further rises, too, with …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Verizon, Vodafone Talking Business

Leave a comment

By 24/7 Wall St.

Verizon wireless logo

Filed under:

While the relationship has not been a particularly stormy one, the Verizon Wireless joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone Group plc (NASDAQ: VOD) has been the subject of lots of conjecture over the past couple of years. Now Bloomberg is reporting that the two have been talking about ways to end the relationship either through a buyout by Verizon or a merger between the two companies.

Citing “people familiar with the situation,” Bloomberg reports that talks were held as recently as last December regarding a full merger, but the discussion dissolved when the two companies could not agree on management or a location for the corporate headquarters. That leaves a Verizon buyout as a likely alternative, provided of course that the U.S. telecom giant can finance the $115 billion price tag that Vodafone’s 45% stake in Verizon Wireless is said to be worth.

Vodafone has said that it would like to sell stakes in businesses that it does not fully own. Last year it sold its stake in a French mobile-phone operator and it sold a minority stake in China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE: CHL) in 2010.

Shares of Vodafone are up nearly 4% at $26.34 in a 52-week range of $24.42 to $30.07. Verizon’s shares are up about 1% at $47.54 in a 52-week range of $36.80 to $48.77.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Mergers and Buy Outs, Telecom & Wireless Tagged: CHL, VOD, VZ

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance