[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Barclays‘ (LSE: BARC) shares have had a cracking run. And speaking of full-year results Tuesday (10 February), CEO CS Venkatakrishnan said: “Barclays achieved all financial guidance in 2025. RoTE was 11.3% as all divisions delivered double-digit RoTE. We distributed £3.7bn to our shareholders, including the £1.0bn share buyback announced today, up from £3.0bn in 2024.” Profit before tax for the fourth quarter hit £1.9bn. That’s ahead of the consensus for £1.72bn, and well up on the £1.7bn in the same quarter last year. It helped take full-year profit to £9.1bn, up a very nice 13%…
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[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images The FTSE 100 is home to some of the world’s most popular dividend stocks. With stacks of financially robust, market-leading companies in mature industries, it’s no secret why the Footsie’s the place to target a passive income. Or is it? Sure, the index has clear benefits for income investors. But concentrating solely on blue-chip UK shares mean investors frequently miss out on top dividend opportunities elsewhere. Take Regional REIT , AEW UK REIT and Target Healthcare REIT. Combined with a high-paying FTSE 250 energy stock — more of that one later — the average dividend…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Agronomics (LSE:ANIC) is a penny stock that has done well in the past year. Currently at 6p, it’s up around 50% over this period. That’s better than many well-known UK stocks like Tesco (up 16%) and Greggs (down 23%). But why am I comparing an obscure penny share with household names like Tesco and Greggs? Food production innovation It’s down to food, basically. Agronomics is a venture capital company with stakes in start-ups in the nascent cellular agriculture space. This technology can create meat and products like eggs and dairy directly from animal cells. It’s…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images The role of a good investor is to predict what will happen to a stock before it does. After all, buying a stock after it’s already surged in value can be frustrating. I’m not going to pretend it’s easy to try and understand what’s going to happen, but when it comes to the Tesco (LSE:TSCO) share price, I’m pretty confident it could rally in the coming months. Here’s why. Building the foundation A month ago, the quarterly trading update saw the share price take a short-term nose dive. On the surface, I understand why. Tesco…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Passive income is the closest thing to disproving the old adage that there is no such thing as easy money. The only effort required in generating it is picking the right stocks to generate regular dividend payouts. These dividends are best reinvested back into the stock in my view, as this effectively turbocharges the income over time. This can provide for an extremely comfortable retirement — and an early one too, if done right. One firm in my passive income portfolio is currently looking worthy of further investment from me: Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW). Why…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images High dividend yields are often popular with investors looking for a second income. But I think anyone looking at Legal & General (LSE:LGEN) shares should take a second look – and a third one after that. Insurance companies aren’t straightforward, but investors need to know what they’re getting themselves into. So let’s take a look at what’s going on with the company. First look: dividend yield Like a lot of insurance companies – especially life insurers – Legal & General shares come with a huge dividend yield. At 8.25%, it’s the second-highest in the FTSE…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems are the two most popular FTSE defence stocks. And for good reason – both are seeing strong revenue growth as countries across the world ramp up their spending on defence solutions. However, over the last six months, another FTSE defence stock has outperformed these two names by an enormous margin. Could it be worth a closer look right now? A UK defence stock no one has heard of The stock I want to highlight here is Kromek (LSE: KMK). It’s a small British company that provides nuclear radiation detection solutions to…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images With the S&P 500’s three most valuable companies each worth more than the entire FTSE 100, it’s easy to see why UK shares are often overlooked. But with uncertainty over how artificial intelligence (AI) will affect our lives, could the lack of tech stocks among Britain’s index of leading blue-chip companies actually be its strength? And has the time come to consider a company that’s operating in an industry that’s been around for over 10,000 years? Let’s take a closer look. Ups and downs Suffering from post-pandemic supply chain inflation, rising mortgage rates, and a…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images Tesco (LSE:TSCO) shares have been a pretty strong performer in recent years. Despite UK discount retailers turning up the pressure, the supermarket giant has cleverly positioned its Clubcard loyalty scheme to keep shoppers flowing through its doors, even stealing market share in the process. But even income investors have joined in enjoying the spoils. In its 2024 fiscal year, management hiked shareholder payouts by an impressive 11%. Then in 2025, dividends were bumped up by another 13%. But what are analysts expecting for 2026? And if an investor wanted to earn £5,000 in annual passive…
[ad_1] Image source: Getty Images A handful of high-quality FTSE 100 stocks have sold off recently due to panic about AI disruption. Chief among these is Sage Group (LSE:SGE), the software firm whose share price has crashed 22% year to date. This steep sell-off leaves the stock up just 42% over five years, way behind the FTSE 100’s gain of 59%. Indeed, Sage’s share price is barely above where it stood in September 2016, almost 10 years ago. Yet when I look at the business, as opposed to the share price, I don’t see anything fundamentally wrong. Quite the opposite,…