Some of our the UK’s biggest companies will be releasing updates in October. And I reckon following company news over the course of the year can help us find the very best stocks to buy and hold for the long term.
Market leader
One is FTSE 100 supermarket leader Tesco (LSE: TSCO). The competition might be growing, and Lidl and Aldi might be rubbing their hands with glee as shoppers chase rock-bottom prices.
But Tesco still commands 27% of the UK’s grocery market, with Sainsbury a distant second at 15%. Tesco is going to take some shifting if anyone wants to try.
First-half results should be with us on 5 October, and so much seems to have happened since Tesco’s first-quarter update back in June.
At the time, total retail sales (excluding fuel) had grown 2% on a like-for-like basis from the prior year. Sales were up 9.9% from three years previously. And that famous market share had edged up a bit.
The Tesco share price has shown some weakness, dropping 25% in the past 12 months.
But that’s pushed the stock’s forecast price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio down to around 9.5. And dividend yields are heading above 5%.
FTSE 100 bank
Standard Chartered and NatWest Group have Q3 updates coming on 26 October and 28 October, respectively. But my sights are directed more to Barclays (LSE: BARC), with third-quarter figures due on 26 October.
Like financial stocks in general, the Barclays share price has fallen, down 25% in the past 12 months.
In this case, it puts the stock on a P/E of only around 5.4. The long-term average for FTSE 100 stocks is close to three times that, which makes Barclays look cheap on that score.
The forecast dividend yield is pushing 5%, with analysts lifting their predictions above 7% by 2024. How forecasts might hold up if we face a prolonged recession is the big unknown here.
One thing I do like about Barclays is its international exposure, which could help defend it against specific UK-centric dangers.
Oil & gas
Oil and gas stocks have had a good year, as oil prices have climbed. And that brings me to Shell (LSE: SHEL), with a Q3 update due on 27 October.
The Shell share price has gained 35% in the past 12 months, and profits are climbing. In 2021, earnings were almost back to pre-pandemic levels. And forecasters predict a bumper year this year.
The dividend yield is around 4%, which is not close to the FTSE 100’s best. But it is being held down by the rising share price.
The price of oil has declined some way from its summer highs, with Brent crude dipping below $90 per barrel. And that’s got to be a big risk now. If oil carries on down, I’d expect the Shell share price to lose some of its gains.
Buy in October?
I don’t know if I’ll buy any of these three stocks. Not without doing my proper research, certainly. But at least I’ll be better informed by following October’s updates.