Wednesday tips round-up: BP, Imperial Tobacco, Shanks

BP shares are yielding 6.2% in 2010, rising to 6.5% in 2011. Investors should use yesterday's fall in the share price as a buying opportunity. The yield is too impressive to ignore. Trading on a December 2011 earnings multiple of 7.6 times, the stance remains buy says the Telegraph.

Whichever way you look at it, a multiple of just over 11 times full-year 2010 forecast earnings for Imperial Tobacco is undemanding and the yield of 4.2% is respectable. Litigation is always going to be an issue for a tobacco company such as Imperial but, as a general rule, the shares offer a good deal of value and would be worth having in a portfolio for their defensive qualities alone. If you suspend ethical considerations, that makes Imperial Tobacco a buy, the Independent says.

Tuesday's profit warning from waste group Shanks hardly hit the share price at all. That's because of a current bid situation. However, should any formal offer fail to materialise the shares are likely to retrench. Now looks a good time to take profits looking at the risk of waiting for a bid above 150p. Sell says the Telegraph.

Babcock shares look cheap. Trading at 12.5 times forecast 2010 earnings, they offer a 22 per cent discount to their peer group. Add to this a 3% dividend yield and a pretty strong investment case emerges even if Babcock's reliance on public-sector work may be a little risky since heavy government spending cuts are expected after the election. Hold says the Independent.

Aerospace tools group Hampson made a deeply discounted cash call yesterday which it hopes will raise £59.5m, chiefly to cut its debt. In the long term there is an argument for buying the shares on the potential for future growth in aerospace, which makes Hampson a speculative buy says the Independent.

Dairy Crest has been doing all the right things since last year's enforced dividend cut - which, even so, has left the shares yielding a respectable 5.4%. At 341p, or seven times next year's earnings, the shares' recent underperformance should be nearing its end. Buy say the Times.

Contract wins from the likes of Infineon, STMicroelectronics and Global Foundries, the start-up rival to TSMC, of Taiwan, augur well for chip designer Arm's revenues - as does the worldwide shift from analogue to digital television that is still gathering pace. At 200p, up 11p, the shares look stretched at 27 times this year's earnings - but they always do. Hold says the Times.

The 25% stake of Iceland's Atorka in feed and distribution group NWF remains a potential drag on the shares, but, at 96p, or 11 times earnings, and yielding 4.3%, they should be tucked away says the Times.


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