Barclays PLC (ADR) (BCS): Three More FTSE 100 Shares for the Week Ahead

LONDON — Next week will be busy for FTSE 100 company news, and we have already taken a look at some of our most popular companies. But with first-quarter time upon us for firms with years ending December, there’s more to come. Here are three more companies due to report.

Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS)
On Wednesday, we’ll have first-quarter figures from Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) . After a long bull run took the shares to 330 pence in February, the price has slipped back to 286 pence today. But now that two of the biggest names from the Bob Diamond era are gone, what does the future hold?

Current forecasts of a 6% rise in earnings per share suggest a forward price-to-earnings ratio of less than eight despite the price rise of the past year. Compared to the other high-street banks, which are on multiples of between 10 and 11, that looks cheap; there is clearly plenty of negative sentiment left surrounding the LIBOR-fixing scandal and other banking horrors.

But if Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) can convince people that the scandals are all in the past, we might be looking at a bargain.

Admiral
It’s time for an interim management statement from Admiral Group plc on Thursday. The insurance firm’s shares have also been on a bit of a climb: At 1,334 pence today, they’re up more than 30% since November’s lows.

In the year ending Dec. 31, 2012, Admiral grew its pre-tax profit by 15% to 345 million pounds, with EPS up 16% to 95.1 pence per share. That enabled a total dividend for the year of 90.6 pence (including a special payment of 47.9 pence, which is a regular feature for Admiral). That was up 20% on the previous year’s total and represented a yield of nearly 8% on the end-of-year share price.

A total dividend of slightly less is forecast for this year, but even though the share price has risen, it still indicates a yield of 6.7% — but maintaining that level would require sufficient surplus cash to keep up the “special” portion of the payout.

British American Tobacco PLC (ADR) (NYSEMKT:BTI)
Thursday will also bring us a first-quarter update from British American Tobacco PLC (ADR) (NYSEMKT:BTI), and yet again we’re seeing a share price rise that has started to tail off. The price hit a 52-week peak of 3,640 pence on March 12 (the same day the FTSE 100 reached a five-year high of 6,534) but has since slipped back to 3,502 pence.

The year to December 2012 saw further growth, with revenue up another 4% and profit up to match, and the company lifted its total dividend by 7% to 134.9 pence per share. But actual volume in terms of number of sticks fell, so there’s perhaps some worry that global volume might be close to peaking. Nevertheless, there’s still a dividend yield of 4.2% forecast for 2013, with the shares on a P/E of 15.

The article 3 More FTSE 100 Shares for the Week Ahead originally appeared on Fool.com.

Alan Oscroft has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

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