What kind of shopper are you? I'm of the 'oh the shampoo is on special, I'll take two' variety, which means that when I returned from a week without internet to find the S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: ^AXJO)(ASX: XJO) down heavily and newspapers talking about a crash, my instinct was to start buying.
My portfolio as a whole lost around 5% since the start of January, and several of my positions are now sitting at a meaningful discount. Among them are a couple of great buying opportunities:
Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (ASX: CCL) – last traded at $8.27, yields 5.1% partly franked
Coca-Cola Amatil shares have been pretty volatile over the last couple of years after profit downgrades and the subsequent investor uncertainty those created. While shares traded between $8.50 and $9.50 for most of this time, they recently dropped as low as $8.16, their lowest level in seven years.
While the business does face its struggles domestically and overseas, it also has significant growth potential in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, supported by a solid marketing apparatus and a fairly sticky customer base that helps provide a sustainable dividend payment. Importantly, the downside from here appears to be fairly limited, yet shares look undervalued to me and with overseas sales growing strongly, I believe there is around 30% upside on the table.
Shares are now down 11% since I bought them, and with Coca-Cola Amatil looking like an honest bargain I'm strongly considering topping up my holding.
Retail Food Group Limited (ASX: RFG) – last traded at $4.22, yields 5.7% fully franked
Retail Food Group shares have also been on the nose lately, losing some 26% in the past year after investor excitement about a number of major acquisitions wore off. Yet with the company significantly larger than before – with profits rising and costs falling – one would think shares would be more highly valued after the fact, not less.
I harbour some reservations about the company's apparent focus on its coffee operations. While this is the biggest segment and deserves the most attention from management, I believe several other franchises are also due for some love in the form of a face and a menu-lift.
Be that as it may, Retail Food Group looks like great value to investors today and with the company still aiming to grow significantly – both by acquisition and organically – over the next few years the company looks like a strong buy to me. A 5.7% dividend also doesn't hurt the investment case.
Although shares are down just 5% from my average buy price, I'm highly likely to purchase more Retail Food Group in the near future (when the Fool's strict trading rules permit).
Of course, shares in Coca-Cola and Retail Food Group might head lower from here – or they might not. However, if you've ever looked back at a share price chart and said 'I wish I'd bought company XYZ back when it was that price' just know that right now could well be one of those times.
Picking up a company trading at a discount often involves buying after shares have fallen in price, and this takes courage. Business performance inevitably shines through however, and investors in both of the above companies may stand to be rewarded in the long term.
