Phil looks at the state of the US stock market following the presidential election and the reasons why it might continue to boom and why it might not. Even if you don’t invest in US shares, what happens on Wall Street has a big say in how UK shares will perform. A high-flying US stock […]
After rival house builder Bellway decided not to buy Crest Nicholson, Phil asks whether the shares have been treated too harshly by the market or if investors should stay clear of them. Source: Crest Nicholson It’s been a rough few years for house-building companies. COVID-19 badly disrupted their businesses while government subsidies and low borrowing […]
Phil takes a look at the subject of factor investing and whether quality factor exchange-traded funds (ETFs) can deliver better returns than those that track the stock market. Factor investing 101 To some extent, most investing is based around factors. Factors are used to deliver sources of return from portfolios and to explain the performance […]
Phil asks whether the latest profit warning from Aston Martin is the final straw for investors or whether a turnaround in its fortunes is still possible. Since its flotation five years ago, shares in Aston Martin Lagonda have been a disastrous investment. They have lost more than 90% of their value since then. Last year […]
Many investors like to buy shares that are popular or those of companies that are doing well. Phil takes a look at why sometimes buying shares that professional investors are betting against can generate big gains. Finding unpopular shares Most investors make money by buying shares that eventually go up in price. However, it is […]
The conventional wisdom that stocks deliver the best returns for investors is generally true, but only if you can ignore the wild ups and downs that come with them and stay invested. Phil looks at whether a popular and lower-risk approach to investing is worth considering at the moment. Shares deliver the best returns if […]
Phil looks at the recent bid interest in Hargreaves Lansdown and suggests that more bids for unloved companies could be on the way. From loved to laggard Many investors like to own shares in companies that are doing well and where the share price is heading upwards. This is perfectly understandable as this situation provides […]
Banks have been one of the best-performing sectors in the UK market so far in 2024. Phil undertakes a very simple SharePad analysis of the sector to see if the good run can continue. Banks sustain their outperformance The long-term performance of UK bank shares has not been good. Many owe their survival to taxpayer-funded […]
Phil takes a look at some of the issues investors should consider when owning a share that has performed very well. He does this by taking a look at Rolls-Royce shares. It’s always nice to own a share that performs very well. However, there will come a time when investors will ask themselves whether they […]
Companies have three main choices when it comes to financing their business. They can use money from shareholders or equity, use the profits and free cash flows produced by the business, or they can borrow money from lenders. Debt on its own is not a bad thing. If a company takes the money it has […]
Phil uses SharePad to shed some light on the very popular Fundsmith Equity fund. Fundsmith has great long-term performance but recent performance is more modest. Fundsmith is one of the most popular managed funds out there and gets plenty of column inches due to its high-profile manager Terry Smith. Since starting out at the back […]
Phil puts the embattled Reckitt Benckiser under the SharePad spotlight. Last Friday saw a sharp fall in the share price of Reckitt Benckiser – one of the world’s leading household and consumer goods companies. A judge in the US awarded damages of $60m after ruling that Reckitt’s infant formula products may have contributed to the […]
Former Investment analyst and financial journalist Phil Oakley shows how he uses ShareScope to research companies and shares. I have been using ShareScope since it was launched in 2015 and helped to develop many of the features that are in it today. It remains a great resource for private investors and I find it invaluable […]
Phil looks at the issues with one of the most important ratios in investing and argues the case for a cleaner and more realistic alternative. Return on investment or return on capital employed (ROCE) as it is commonly referred to is seen as one of the best measures of a company’s financial performance. It is […]
Phil takes a look at a strategy of identifying unloved shares as a way of generating market beating returns. In my last couple of articles, I’ve discussed some of the issues that investors face when looking at good companies. One of the biggest difficulties faced is that the shares of such companies can be highly […]
In my previous article, I discussed the reasons for investing in good companies and how you can search for them in SharePad. We saw that investing in good companies can generate stellar returns for investors over time but being able to buy the shares of them at a reasonable price is often difficult. It is […]
Investing in good companies is one way to grow the value of your portfolio. In this article, Phil takes you through his method of searching for outstanding British companies using SharePad. When I first started out in the investing world more than a quarter of a century ago, value investing was still very much in […]
Buying a share in a company in the hope that it might get taken over is a risky thing to do. There’s no guarantee that a buyer will ever emerge and you could end up losing money waiting for one to turn up. Phil takes a look at some prominent takeovers of 2023 and asks […]
There’s no harm in using fund managers as a source for investment ideas but blindly copying them without doing your own research can be a costly mistake. Phil looks at the recent purchase of Rightmove shares by two well-known professional investors to see if private investors should consider buying in as well. Why copying others […]
Profit warnings are part and parcel of the experience of owning shares. They are not pleasant but they often contain valuable lessons which can benefit investors in the future. Sometimes they can just reflect a temporary blip. But they can also be a reason to question the sustainability of a company’s strategy and business model. […]
For some people, the thought of picking their own shares can be a little bit daunting. Rest assured, it doesn’t have to be. Whilst it is best to do at least a little bit of homework before you part with your hard-earned cash, successful investing does not require a high IQ or lots of specialist […]
In the second of his articles about stock-picking formulas, Phil takes a look at the Piotroski F-Score to see how useful it is at identifying winning shares. My previous article looked at the usefulness of The Magic Formula as an investing strategy in today’s stock markets. In this article, I am going to turn my […]
Joel Greenblatt’s simple stock-picking formula delivered great results in the past but may no longer be useful for today’s investing world. Phil takes a look at why this once popular stock screen now fails to consistently outperform the market. A brief overview of the magic formula The magic formula is the topic of Joel Greenblatt’s […]
Tax-efficient savings accounts such as individual savings accounts (Isas) and self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) are the best option for most savers and investors. Here’s what you need to know. Isas Isas are tax-free savings accounts. This means that you are not liable for tax on any income you receive – such as interest or dividends […]
Investing has become more global. Gone are the days when UK private investors were restricted to putting their money solely in the UK stock market. Today, many online brokers make it just as easy for a person to trade an individual share on European, US and Asian markets as it is on UK markets. Of […]
Phil uses SharePad to examine the impact of share buybacks on shareholder returns. Do they make shareholders better off and should investors focus on growing companies instead? Do share buybacks really make shareholders better off? Should they prefer dividends instead? Opinion is divided on this subject. The great thing about a dividend from an investor’s […]
If you already have an Isa or Sipp account, you’ll have access to your broker’s free website. This probably provides you with investment data about funds and shares and will also let you see how your investments are doing. Why subscribe to SharePad when you can get all that for free? Well, it is debatable […]
House building in the UK has experienced numerous peaks and troughs with shareholders in listed housebuilders experiencing similar fortunes. Buying housebuilder shares when they are unpopular has made investors plenty of money in the past, but is now a good time to invest? Phil takes a look at the sector through SharePad in an attempt […]
Why do people invest their money rather than just save? It’s not just about growing your savings so that you will have more money in the future. It’s about growing the buying power of your money. You want the £1 that you are investing today to buy more things in the future than it […]
If you are new to private investing, it’s very easy to think “How can I compete with professional fund managers? Surely, I am better off investing my money in their funds and letting them make the decisions”. This article from esteemed investment writer Phil Oakley shows you how. So, are you better off investing all […]
Bunzl shares have proven to be a very solid long-term investment but the last few years have not been very rewarding for investors. Phil takes a look at the company to see if shareholders can expect better days ahead. Source: Bunzl Stuck in a rut Bunzl is a very well-run business that has served investors […]
The UK stock market is undoubtedly cheap, but that doesn’t mean it won’t stay that way. Phil uses SharePad to show how you might sift this unpopular market for undervalued shares and creates 4 new SharePad stock screening filters for good measure. When I first entered the world of investing over a quarter of a […]
Diageo has many attractive characteristics as a business but its shares have delivered steady rather than exceptional returns to investors. Phil has a look at the company to see if it might reward investors better in the future than it has in the past. For many long-term investors, Diageo is a company that ticks a […]
Phil asks whether AG Barr’s recent acquisitions can turn it into a growing business again. Soft drinks companies are a long-term favourite with investors. Their products are affordable, small and regular consumer purchases which can produce a nice blend of steady growth and resilience which can make them all-weather investments. The giants of the industry […]
Recent attempts to turn Hornby into a consistently profitable and growing business have failed. Phil looks to see if last week’s purchase of a minority stake in Warlord Games provides the catalyst for a profit revival and a higher share price. Hornby is in a mess Whatever way you look at Hornby the company is […]
Phil looks at the issue of management in light of the turmoil and changes at JD Sports and asks whether the shares are too cheap despite a tough economic outlook. Business Overview JD Sports is one of the leading retailers of sports fashion wear. It has built on its UK roots to become a global […]
Buying shares when they are unpopular can be a profitable investing strategy. Phil takes a look at one of the UK’s leading brickmakers, Forterra, to see if now could be a good time to buy its shares. A good business underpinned by strong long-term demand for new homes The long-term bull case for buying shares […]
A business that aims to save its customers money should be doing well during a cost of living crisis. Phil looks at Moneysupermarket.com and asks if the recent rally in its shares has further to go. The business Moneysupermarket (MSM) is the UK’s largest price comparison website. It aims to save people money on household […]
Phil looks at the income on offer from UK government bonds and asks whether sticking with shares might still be a better option. Since the 2008/09 financial crisis, investing in government bonds for income has not been very fruitful. The policy of very low-interest rates as a response to the crisis meant that many governments […]
Phil Oakley takes a look SSE (formerly known as Scottish & Southern Energy), which despite its history of unsustainable growth highlighting the dangers of investing solely on the basis of dividend yield may still be undervalued given long-term potential of its renewable energy portfolio. The dangers of investing for high dividend yields For years SSE […]
Watches of Switzerland shares have been stellar performers since listing on the London market nearly four years ago. However, since peaking at over £15 at the end of 2021, they have more than halved in value. This is despite profits continuing to grow and forecast guidance being maintained. The sales of luxury watches boomed during […]
Not so long ago, Domino’s Pizza was seen as an attractive growth stock with a lot going for it. Investors viewed the company as a classic retail “roll out” situation where strong growth from existing stores could be turbocharged by opening lots of new ones. This was then rounded off with an asset-light business model […]
Shares in kitchen supplier Howden Joinery have rewarded long-term investors handsomely. For me, it is one of the highest quality UK businesses in the FTSE 250 index. It is very shareholder friendly, whilst its annual report is one of the best I have read when it comes to explaining how a business works. Howden has […]
Investing in shares is risky but if you want to grow the value of your investments you have to take some risk. Getting the balance between risk and potential returns is one of the key decisions you must make as an investor. There’s often a lot of focus on gains but very little on risk. […]
Investors are often intrigued with companies where the share price has fallen a long way. If it can recover, then there could be potential for big gains, especially if the company’s business can improve. Premium soft drinks company Fevertree was loved by the stock market five years ago, but has experienced a dramatic fall from […]
One of the best things you can do to really understand a business is to spend some time studying how and from where a company generates its revenues. A series of simple and straightforward questions can allow you to gain a great deal of insight into how a company works. All of the information you […]
A cash flow analysis of a company has long been seen as a good thing for an investor to do. Often, if you want to get a feel for what’s really going on with a company and the numbers it produces, its cash flow statement will tell you a lot more than its income statement. […]
It’s nice to be back writing some articles for SharePad. As some of you may know, I worked for ShareScope between 2014 and 2018 and helped to design many of the financial analysis features that are in the SharePad software. I remain a very happy user of SharePad today and use it extensively for my […]
For many years Next has been a very profitable retailer of clothes and homewares. Like most of its peers it has had to face up to the changing world of shopping that has led more people to buy stuff over the internet instead of from shops on the high streets or in retail parks. Profits […]
Portmeirion Group is based in Stoke on Trent and is a leading maker of homeware products such as tableware, cookware, placemats, candles and fragrances. It trades under some well-known brand names such as Portmeirion, Royal Worcester, Pimpernel, Spode and Wax Lyrical. Around half its products are manufactured at its own site in Stoke on Trent […]
Buying shares that are out of favour is a favourite strategy amongst contrarian value investors. However, in recent times it is not one that has worked particularly well. In fact, much more success seems to have been had with momentum strategies. These involve buying shares that are very popular and, in many cases, have been […]
Ten years ago, Morrisons was doing reasonably well. Under the leadership of Dutchman Marc Bolland it was wooing customers with a very simple and powerful strategy – offering good food at low prices. When he left to run Marks & Spencer, the supermarket industry was beginning to change and the company lost its way. It […]
If you’ve been investing in individual shares for a while then you’ve probably gone through the experience of losing some money on one or more of them. It’s a horrible feeling that happens to the best investors. You’d rather it hadn’t happened but the lessons you can learn from it can be invaluable in making […]
Shares in Hill & Smith Holdings (LSE:HILS) have been a very solid investment in recent years. The company’s strategy of focusing on niche infrastructure markets with significant regulation and health and safety characteristics has seen its businesses grow and become increasingly profitable. Total returns to shareholders have increased by 258% over the last five years. […]
Superdry wants to create a global lifestyle brand by selling premium, high quality and affordable clothing to people. Its brand may not be as recognisable as leading sportswear brands such as Nike or outdoor brands such as North Face but its distinctive logos with Americana and Japanese graphics are not an uncommon sight. Superdry is […]
There are many different ways to make money from the stock market. Over the last few years, one of the most popular and discussed strategies has been about buying the shares of high quality businesses or quality investing. Warren Buffett has long been a cheerleader for long-term investing in quality companies. In the UK, the […]
Disclosure: At the time of writing I own shares in InterContinental Hotels. InterContinental Hotels (IHG) can trace its roots back to the Bass brewing company. Bass, long known for its ales set about turning itself into a leisure conglomerate with pubs, Gala Bingo, Coral bookmakers and hotels. In 2000, the company sold its brewing business […]
Since they were privatised in the mid 1980s and early 1990s, the shares of regulated utility companies have found a place in many private investors’ portfolios. Their main attraction has been an ability to offer a higher income than government bonds with plenty of dividend growth on top. This made them ideal income stocks. With […]
Cranswick is a UK-based food producer. It specialises in the production and selling of pork and poultry products. The sales mix of its business is as follows: Fresh Pork (34% of sales) – Cranswick is the third largest pig producer in the UK. Its own herd of outdoor reared pigs provides 18% of its own […]
Highly profitable companies can make outstanding long-term investments. Arguably, the best way to measure a company’s profitability is to compare its profits with the amount of money invested to make them. This is known as the return on investment or return on capital employed (ROCE). One person’s definition of a highly profitable business will differ […]
Domino’s Pizza is a very good business. It has exploited the trend of the growth in take-away pizza superbly and now has a 46% share of the UK’s £2.1 billion pizza market. For many years it has been able to grow its sales and profits whilst producing high profit margins, high returns on capital employed […]
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the issues investors faced in working out a company’s true profits. In many cases, the ways in which companies calculate their so-called adjusted profits are becoming increasingly absurd. Investors are frequently asked to ignore certain real costs so that profits are as big as possible. The harsh […]
Hollywood Bowl is the UK’s largest operator of tenpin bowling centres. It currently has 58 centres across the UK with 43 trading under the Hollywood Bowl brand, 4 as Bowlplex and 11 as AMF. In total, these centres have 1,390 bowling lanes. The average size of each centre is around 30,000 square feet with 24 […]
This article is more suited to experienced investors. Profits are all important when it comes to investing in companies. To make money over the long haul it usually helps to invest in a company that is growing its profits. The more profitable a company is, the more valuable its shares tend to be. However, profits […]
Shares in building and construction company Galliford Try have been hammered since it announced its half year results a couple of weeks ago. The results themselves were pretty good but the shares have crashed due to other reasons, namely: Cost overruns in its construction business. A cut in the dividend – albeit a small one. […]
Should investors pay much attention to analysts’ profit forecasts? There is a school of thought that suggests that they should not. Detractors say that forecasts are nothing more than educated guesswork and that analysts are very bad at predicting changes such as profit warnings or recessions. In many cases, forecasts are merely the extrapolation of […]
(LSE:CPC 196p, Mkt Cap £96.3m, EMS 1500, Analysts 2) City Pub Group listed on AIM back in November. The company currently owns 38 managed pubs situated in London and the south of England. Twenty three of these pubs are freeholds (owned outright by the company) with 15 leased or rented. Thirty three pubs are currently […]
There are many full time private investors out there but for others investing is a hobby or something that they fit around their day to day activities. If you don’t have a lot of time on your hands one of the toughest tasks you will have is narrowing down the list of potential investments on […]
Avon Rubber is a good example of a company that fits into the category of a profitable niche business. It started off as a cloth mill in 1885 but most people will know its name from Avon Tyres which was sold off in 1994. Today it makes its money from selling protective breathing products and […]
It doesn’t take too much time to get a feel for how well a company is doing. Most people do this by looking at percentage changes in key numbers – such as turnover and profit – from one period to the next. They may also look at key ratios such as profit margins or return […]
Soft drinks company Nichols (AIM:NICL) has been a good share to own over the last few years. It has many of the hallmarks of a high quality business but its shares have been drifting downwards in recent weeks. This seems like a good time to take a closer look at what has been going on […]
For those of you who like the idea of a buy and forget investing strategy then Joel Greenblatt’s Magic Formula of buying good companies at fair prices takes a lot of beating in my view. It is a simple and powerful way to put together a portfolio and one that has a pretty good long-term […]
If you were to ask me to recommend just one book on investing then I would struggle to think of anything better than Joel Greenblatt’s book ‘The Little Book that beats the Market’. It is very easy to read and is not very long. The book does a great job in convincing the reader that […]
Henry Boot is a Sheffield-based company which makes money from property and construction activities. It has four main sources of income: Buying land, getting planning permission for it and then selling it to house builders for a profit. Developing commercial property such as warehouses, offices and industrial units. It also has a small house building […]
One of the main considerations for people investing in shares these days is the dividend income they will get from owning them. With a world of low interest rates on savings accounts and bonds and a change in the rules for taking pension income the choice of dividend-paying shares has arguably never been more important. […]
Over a decade ago when I was a smaller companies analyst in the City, UK engineering company Fenner was part of the portfolio of stocks that I researched. I also got to know the company and its management team reasonably well when I gave up being a stockbroker and went to work for a fund […]
One of the most commonly cited measures of a company’s financial strength is something known as the current ratio. It is a measure of liquidity and compares a company’s current assets – defined as assets that can be turned into cash within one year – with its current liabilities (those which have to be paid […]
In the last of his Investors Chronicle articles, Phil looks at companies reinstating dividends or starting to pay them for the 1st time. Read pdf article
First published in Investors Chronicle, Phil explains how to avoid the shares that might let you down. Read pdf article
First published in Investors Chronicle, Phil explains how to identify which high-yielding shares are most likely to maintain or grow their dividends. Read pdf article
Lots of people will tell you that the price you pay for a share really matters. This is because it has a big say on the kind of long-term returns you will make from it. What this means in practice is that paying too much for a share – too high a valuation – is likely to […]
Elegant Hotels is the owner and operator of a number of upmarket hotels on the Caribbean island of Barbados. The company has been in business for a while and was previously listed on the stock exchange under the name of St James’ Beach Hotels until it was bought by a private equity firm in the […]
Two weeks ago I wrote about how to try and value companies that aren’t making a profit. This week I’m going back to basics for more inexperienced investors. Although I’m sure there will be some reminders here for regular readers. For many successful investors, the price they pay for a share of a company is […]
One of the questions I am frequently asked is: “How do I value loss-making companies?”. The short answer is that it can be really quite difficult. It is so much easier to try and value profitable businesses with an established financial history. However, the value of any business is based on how much money it […]
The state of the housing market – and the direction of house prices in particular – is a key driver of Britain’s economy. When house prices are going up, people feel wealthier, banks are happy to lend money against property and economic activity tends to increase. More houses are built, more people move home, more […]
Scapa Group has transformed itself over the last few years by following a strategy of offering more value to its customers. It has worked well and has seen a significant boost in profits which has helped to make its shares an exceptional investment. The business Scapa Group describes itself as a supplier of bonding solutions […]
Holidays are great for switching off from the stresses and strains of the daily grind and concentrating on what’s really important in life. I’ve just had three weeks away from work – I can’t remember the last time I did that – spending time relaxing with my family and doing jobs around the house that […]
Ashtead makes its money by renting out equipment to construction and industrial companies – things like aerial platforms, forklift trucks, tools, diggers, cranes, power generators and pumps. It makes most of its profits in America and its shares have been a terrific investment. They have been a proverbial ten bagger over the last decade. After […]
Castings plc is a foundry business. Foundries are factories which produce metal castings. Castings has two in the UK – in the West Midlands and South Yorkshire – which take scrap steel and alloys and turn them into castings up to 40kg in weight. It also has a machining business which allows it to turn […]
Most people like a bargain. Bargain hunting on the stock market has long been a popular pastime or even a full time occupation for investors. There’s no shortage of books, articles and advice that tell investors to pursue a ‘cheap is best’ strategy if they want to get rich. Yet in most cases there is […]
I am finding investing more than just a little bit frustrating these days. The reason for this is that I am struggling to find shares that I am comfortable owning for the long haul. To put it simply, I think my favoured high quality businesses are overpriced whilst the valuations on many so called growth […]
RPC (rigid plastic containers) designs and manufacturers plastic products for packaging markets. The company makes thousands of different products such as plastic bottles, food containers, plastic tubes, paint containers, wheelie bins and bin liners. Plastic is everywhere in our lives and there is a good chance that most of us use or come across an […]
James Halstead has been in business since 1915. It started out dyeing, finishing, waterproofing and rubberising textiles that were used in rainwear and outdoor clothing. Today it has established itself as a leading manufacturer and distributor of high quality flooring for commercial, contract and domestic markets. Its main commercial brand is its Polyflor vinyl flooring […]
In my 20 years of investing I am finding the current stock market conditions the most challenging I have ever encountered. My investing career started during the early stages of the TMT (technology, media and telecoms) boom. The case for investing in these sectors was based on a belief in transformational business models and the […]
Stock Watch: Watkins Jones Watkins Jones is a property developer, best known for building private student accommodation. It floated on AIM in March 2016. The company makes money from three sources at the moment: Building student accommodation units for professional investors Managing student accommodation units for professional investors Building private residential accommodation The bulk of […]
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the subject of PE ratios (click here to read the article) and the ins and outs of using them to value companies. One of the main drawbacks of PE ratios – and any valuation using a share price – is that it can be distorted by the […]
Howden Joinery Group is the parent company for Howdens. Howdens was established in 1995 with 14 depots by its current chief executive Matthew Ingle when the business was part of the MFI Group. MFI was sold off in 2006 but the company (it was known as Galiform back then) was responsible for some significant onerous […]
PE ratios and how to use them Price to earnings (PE) ratios are the most commonly used method of weighing up the value of a company and its shares. They are calculated using the following simple formula: PE ratio = Share price/Earnings per share (EPS) PEs are popular with investors because of their perceived simplicity […]
I recently wrote about Smart Metering Systems in my exclusive weekly newsletter for SharePad and ShareScope customers. It’s an interesting company so I have decided to dedicate a Stock Watch to it. Smart Metering Systems (SMS) has been in business since 1995. The company’s roots were established following the deregulation of the domestic gas meter […]
FW Thorpe was founded in 1936 and has been listed on the stock exchange since 1965. The company designs and manufactures professional lighting systems for commercial markets. It has been very successful in carving out a profitable niche for itself and its shares have proven to be a very decent long term investment. What makes […]
