Oil Search Limited
Last week was a positive week for investors in Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH), with the oil and gas producer reporting better-than-expected results and announcing a special dividend of 4 cents per share. In fact, Oil Search surpassed market forecasts when it reported a 72% increase in net income for the full year and, despite this excellent performance, its shares continue to offer value for money.
For example, Oil Search currently trades on a price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio of just 0.92. This indicates that it offers excellent value for money at its current price level, with its upbeat growth forecasts resulting from the the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Papua New Guinea apparently not being priced in by the market. As such, Oil Search seems to be worth buying at the present time and could prove to be an excellent investment over the long term.
FlexiGroup Limited
With interest rates being cut by 0.25% recently and forecast to move even lower, higher-yield stocks such as FlexiGroup Limited (ASX: FXL) could become more in-demand among income-seeking investors. However, there's much more to FlexiGroup than just a 4.8% yield, since it has an excellent track record of dividend growth that looks set to continue and could ensure that holders of the stock receive real terms increases in income moving forward.
For example, over the last five years FlexiGroup has increased dividends per share at an annualised rate of 22.6%. This is a rapid rate of growth and, looking ahead, dividends are forecast to rise by 6.9% per annum over the next two years. Certainly, this is a much lower rate of growth than in the past, but it means that FlexiGroup could be yielding as much as 5.4% in financial year 2016. As such, it could be worth buying right now.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
For a bank that has been able to increase its bottom line at an annualised rate of 6.4% during the last 10 years, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) appears to be attractively priced. Certainly, a number of ASX stocks have performed better during the period but, when you consider that it includes the global financial crisis, CBA's performance is relatively appealing when compared to its banking peers.
And, with its price to earnings (P/E) ratio being the same as that of the ASX (16.4), it could be argued that CBA deserves to trade at a sizeable premium to the wider market. That's especially the case when you consider that CBA is forecast to increase its bottom line by 6.2% per annum over the next two years, which could even be upgraded as lower interest rates begin to stimulate the wider economy. As such, now could be a great time to buy a slice of CBA.
