4 Low P/E Stocks, Below Book Value, Paying Dividends

Cheap stocks are available for those investors willing to accept the risks of which there are many, perhaps even more than usual under these kinds of circumstances. Higher and higher interest rates are weighing on balance sheets, income statements and everything else taught in Business School 101 — a factor evidently unanticipated a year ago by many chief executive officers of big publicly traded companies.

It’s funny: in America you can get an economics degree from a fine university and then go on to get an MBA as well, and then manage and fight your way to the top and yet, fail to realize that most of your “management” success is based on 18 straight years of low interest rates, not your extensive education nor your apparent but false business brilliance.

Also, Putin’s ugly invasion of Ukraine continues to depress the global economy, to put it mildly. (What kind of low rent thug keeps on hurting himself and others even though the history books already have him down as a brutal, inhumane loser whatever the eventual outcome is?)

This type of grim investment outlook offers value investors the opportunity to screen for equities now offering the kind of metrics most loved and admired by Benjamin Graham students, some of whom live and work in Omaha, Nebraska. Here are 5 examples of stocks that seem to offer the right kind of stuff for the hardcore value nut and which have growth investors recoiling at the very sight:

AvnetAVT
(NYSE: AVTVT
) has a price-earnings ratio of 5.36 and is trading at 98% of book value. The company specializes in the manufacture of electronic board-to-board connectors and related types of devices. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Avnet services 140 countries. The company is paying a 2.78% dividend.

Here’s the weekly price chart for Avnet:

ManulifeMFC
(NYSE: MFC) has a p/e of 6.51, goes for 97% of book and pays a dividend of 5.49%. It’s an insurance and wealth services firm for Canadians with corporate headquarters in Toronto. In a July analyst update, Scotiabank upgraded the company from “perform” to “outperform.”

The weekly price chart for Manulife is here:

Radian Group
RDN
(NYSE: RDN) trades with a price-earnings ratio of 4.32 and at 83% of book value. Radian Group is paying a 4.20% dividend. This specialty insurance company is based in Wayne, Pennsylvania and focuses on mortgages and real estate services.

Here’s the Radian Group weekly price chart:

Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQNDAQ
: SIMO) has a p/e of 6.28, is available to investors at 74% of book and pays a 3.21% dividend. It’s a semiconductor manufacturer with Hong Kong corporate headquarters. According to the company website, it “optimizes performance and power consumption for notebook PCs.”

The Silicon Motion Technology weekly price chart looks like this:

Not investment advice. For educational purposes only.