This is just going to be a brief post, and there is some "gut feeling" to this, but I thought I'd mention Pets At Home, a UK retailer of pet products, that also does veterinary services. At the moment, I don't actually own any, but will push the button soon (I'll come onto why).
So, a few numbers: P/E of just over 10, dividend yield of 7.2%, debt to equity ratio of 6%. It's cheap, cheapest it's been for 5 years, and not far off all time low for over a decade.
Now for my qualitative thoughts on it:-
- I believe the previous CEO, Lyssa McGowan, was unsuited to the job, her prior experience being in services and consulting, and no experience with retail. She left with immediate effect last year (and everyone knows what that means, right?), and her successor who is about to start the job is James Bailey who is the former CEO of Waitrose, a successful UK food retailer, and I think is a better fit for the job. This is one of my largest factors. * Internet retail is mostly played out, and things like getting dog food or a new collar for a dog, you go buy it from these places and see what's there. * Retail sales are falling slightly but the vet side of the business is growing well, around 13% last year.
I don't know if it's necessarily a huge growth business, but cheap at the current price.