James Gard: Each week we look at one stock that is cheap or expensive and why. This week is the turn of consumer healthcare firm Reckitt, which has a 4-star rating from Morningstar analysts.
Reckitt makes household products like Dettol and Cillit Bang, whose sales soared during the pandemic as people upped their cleaning routines. Shares in Reckitt boomed last year as a result but have slumped after the latest set of results in July as the company warned of the rising costs of raw materials.
Morningstar analysts that this sell-off was an overreaction and has created an attractive entry point for new investors. Reckitt is a strong business with a wide economic moat, they say, and is better positioned than most to pass on these costs to customers. They assign a fair value of £65 to Reckitt shares, but they are currently trading at £56.
Reckitt shares are also attractive from an income perspective. The company has been raising its dividend for a number of years, and maintained this record even during the 2020 crisis. Reckitt is about to pay its interim dividend of 73p per share and it yields over 3% now.
For Morningstar, I’m James Gard