Friday tips round-up: RSA Insurance, Unilever, Wetherspoon

4th Nov 2011 06:37

The Telegraph's Questor column takes a look at RSA Insurance. The firm has fallen 12.6% so far this year and 27% in the last five years.On the surface this doesn't look good, it does however provide an earnings to price ratio of 7.6%, which is set to fall. For a viable business, doing especially well in its international markets this "is far too low" says Questor.RSA only has a relatively minor exposure to European sovereign debt but crucially its core operating ratio (the measure of insurance premiums coming in versus payments going out) is at 95%. This is a solid figure, well below the 100% number that would imply pay outs were exceeding premiums.Despite taking yet another hit on the market yesterday, Questor says RSA Insurance is a buy.The Times's Tempus column leads on Unilever, the enormous consumer brands company which yesterday reported revenues for the third quarter of a whopping €12.1bn.As Tempus notes, those numbers include a 7.8% figure for "organic growth", ahead of market expectations and the key metric when assessing Unilever.The firm undoubtedly has problems, notably commodity costs for its huge range of products including Brylcream and PG Tips. These have risen 15% this year and the rises have been passed on to the consumer. Nevertheless, with an aggressive expansion strategy, including an acquisition in Russia Unilever is according, to The Times, a buy.The Independent looks at pub chain JD Wetherspoon. The group has been complaining loudly about tax and other government levies but the real issue, argues the Investment Column, is a strong sales figure for the third quarter. Like-for-like sales were up 1.1% between July and September, suggesting Wetherspoon's can continue to offer value in the months ahead. The only dark cloud on the horizon, says the Indy, is the operating margin which fell from 9.6 to 9.4% in the third quarter, but with the current market value versus earnings a relatively conservative 11.7 and a yield of 3.1% The Independent says buy.Please note: Digital Look provides a round-up of news, tips and information that is impacting share prices and the market. Digital Look cannot take any responsibility for information provided by third parties. This is for your general information only as not intended to be relied upon by users in making an investment decision or any other decision. Please obtain a copy of the relevant publication and carry out your own research before considering acting on any of this information.