Image source: Getty Images Rolls-Royce (LSE:RR) has been the biggest FTSE 100 success story of the last five years. But there are a few names I’m expecting to be even better investments between now and 2030. One is Croda International (LSE:CRDA). The company’s been under pressure since the end of the pandemic, but I think it’s in a similar position to where Rolls-Royce was five years ago. Cyclical upswing Things really started to take off for Rolls-Royce in the second half of 2022. And the biggest reason for this is clear – travel demand came back with a vengeance after…
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Image source: Getty Images It’s almost unbelievable, but Diageo (LSE:DGE) shares have gone nowhere in 10 years. From October 2015 to now, the share price is flatter than a pint left out overnight. Granted, there have been rising dividends along the way. But even these can’t disguise the fact that this FTSE 100 stock has turned into a seriously disappointing investment. It’s down 55% since the start of 2022! Yet, the market is famous for overselling stocks, as well as for zealously bidding them up. Let’s take a closer look to see if the pessimism might have gone too far.…
Image source: Getty Images Standard Chartered (LSE:STAN) shares are up 69% over the past 12 months. That means £20,000 invested one year ago is now worth £33,800. Clearly, that’s a very strong return over a short period of time. And investors will have received dividends during that period. However, it’s worth noting that while I’ve generally been rather bullish on the bank, there was one point when I was a little nervous. With Donald Trump back in the White House, his renewed push for tariffs — particularly around the so-called Liberation Day — made me uneasy about Standard Chartered’s heavy exposure…
Image source: Getty Images Having five grand of passive income rolling in every month sounds nice in theory, but perhaps not achievable in reality. However, the figures show that this is actually possible for most people, given enough consistency and patience. Without further ado, let’s dive straight in and explore how this might look in practice. Stocks and Shares ISA The first thing a newbie investor would normally do in the UK is open a Stocks and Shares ISA. This account acts as a protective wrapper, shielding any returns from the taxman. As well as making life much simpler, this…
Image source: Getty Images Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR) stock commands a quite astonishing valuation. Once a niche government contractor, the company has transformed into a major player in enterprise artificial intelligence (AI), pitching its platforms — Gotham, Foundry and AIP — as indispensable data infrastructure for both public and private sectors. Revenue growth’s mightily impressive, underpinned by a surge in commercial customers, particularly in the US. However, the stock’s valuation appears disconnected from underlying fundamentals, even by the lofty standards of the AI boom. The company trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) of 280, compared with a sector median of just 25.5 — a premium…
Image source: Getty Images I originally bought FTSE 100 heavyweight British American Tobacco (LSE: BATS) as a high-yielding dividend stock. My aim with these shares is to eventually live off the income they generate so I can substantially reduce my working commitments. In this context, the tobacco and nicotine products manufacturer has not let me down. From 2020 to 2024, it paid respective dividends of 210.4p, 215.6p, 217.8p, 230.89p, and 235.52p. These generated respective annual average yields of 7.8%, 7.9%, 6.7%, 10.1%, and 8.2% in those years. For 2025, it increased each of its three interim dividends to 60.06p –…
Image source: Getty Images It’s been a bad morning (20 October) for the B&M European Value (LSE:BME) share price. By 10am, the group’s shares were worth 17% less than they were at the start of trading. That came after the discount retailer issued another profit warning for the 52 weeks ending 28 March 2026 (FY26). It also announced the departure of its chief financial officer. What’s going on? It’s the group’s second profit downgrade in less than three weeks. This time it said it had identified “approximately £7m of overseas freight costs not correctly recognised in cost of goods sold,…
Image source: Getty Images I am always on the lookout for stocks that consistently pay big dividends and deliver strong passive income. This is money made with little effort from me, so I am a big fan. As FTSE 100 and 250 valuations have surged over the past year, these have become more difficult to find. This is because a stock’s dividend yield moves in the opposite direction to its price. Nevertheless, every now and again my personal stock screener flags such a stock. And it did so recently with Energean (LSE: ENOG). What does it pay? In 2024, the…
Image source: Getty Images Persimmon’s (LSE: PSN) share price has dropped 28% from its 30 October one-year traded high of £16.62. A significant drop in a stock’s price like this always captures my interest as a long-term investor. It may indicate a widening in the gap between its price and its value, which are not the same thing, of course (price is whatever the market will pay at any point for a share, but value reflects underlying business fundamentals). In my experience, investors can make major long-term profits by capitalising on this gap. Conversely, this scale of price drop might…
Image source: Getty Images Lloyds (LSE:LLOY) shares are up 209% over the past five years. Back in October 2020, I could have picked up Lloyds shares for as little as 27p. Today that figure is 83p. The stock has surged, but most of the growth has come over the past two years. After all, banks went from one perceived crisis period to another. At first it was the pandemic, and then it was rising inflation and the cost-of-living crisis. It’s only been in the last 18-24 months that we’ve really seen that pressure released. And bank shares have shot up…