Image source: Getty Images
Looking for brilliant bargains to buy at the start of the new month? Here are two cheap FTSE 250 shares I feel deserve serious consideration.
Gold star
Gold’s bull run has supercharged the share prices of many mining stocks over the past year. Yet investors can still dig out plenty of value across the sector today.
Take Hochschild Mining (LSE:HOC) for instance. Its share price is up 55% since this point in 2024. And it trades on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just 8.1 times, reflecting predictions of a 130% surge in annual earnings.
On top of this, its price-to-earnings growth (PEG) multiple sits comfortably below the accepted value watermark of one, at 0.1.
With the opening of its Mara Rosa mine in Brazil In February 2024, Hochschild’s shift to generating greater revenues from gold continues. Last year, gold accounted for 69% of net revenues, up from 62% the year before. This changing operational mix clearly puts the business in better shape to exploit the gold price boom.
There’s no guarantee that bullion prices will continue rising, of course. But I’m confident gold’s impressive price momentum will continue, driven by growing geopolitical instability, strong central bank purchases, and the likelihood of further US dollar weakness (a weaker buck makes it more cost effective to purchase gold).
I also like Hochschild because it offers investors exposure to silver (31% of sales came from the dual-role metal last year). In the near term, this could leave the business more vulnerable than pure-play gold producers if industrial silver demand slumps.
However, this could be offset by strong investment demand for the metal. And what’s more, Hochschild could outperform gold stocks when global growth accelerates and industrial silver demand likely picks up.
Bright spark
A period of rapid rearmament in recent times has also driven defence shares sharply higher. FTSE 250-listed Chemring (LSE:CHG), for instance, has risen 10% in value over the last 12 months.
But the business — which builds countermeasure technology for jets and ships, along with sensors and cyber warfare systems — still trades on a forward PEG ratio of just 0.8. This reflects predictions of a 26% rise in annual earnings this financial year.
Chemring has operations in the UK, US, Australia and Norway, and sells to more than 50 countries worldwide. Last year its order book soared 13% to a fresh record above £1bn, driven by strength across the group, while sales totalled around £510m, up 8%.
The business plans to generate revenues of £1bn by 2030, and given its market leading position, planned capacity expansions, and rising geopolitical risks, I wouldn’t bet against it.
There could be one fly in the ointment however. The US accounts for just over a third (34%) of group sales, and large question marks hang over future Department of Defense spending as Stateside foreign policy evolves.
However, it has lower exposure than some other UK defence stocks. BAE Systems, for instance, generates 10% more of its sales from the US.
Besides, I think the threat of lower revenues from across the Atlantic may be baked into its cheap share price.
