The stocks and shares the British press is tipping – and recommending you avoid – this week.
Three to buy
Dairy Crest
Investors Chronicle
Food firm Dairy Crest sold its milk business to German giant Müller last year, leaving it with four strong consumer brands and a baby milk business. All of the company’s brands, including cheddar maker Cathedral City and butter company Country Life, have grown in the last six months, while its input costs are falling with the price of milk. The 4.6% dividend yield is “well worth bagging”. 523p
Secure Trust Bank
The Daily Telegraph
Britain’s banking sector has taken an “absolute pummelling” since the referendum. Lenders are vulnerable to any slowdown, or another cut in interest rates by the Bank of England. But some banks are now oversold. Challenger bank Secure Trust has a conservative mortgage business, plus cash in the coffers. It could even snap up one of its distressed competitors. 1,600p
PureTech Health
The Mail on Sunday
The Boston-based health firm has an all-star board, including the former chief executive of drugs giant Sanofi. The company is addressing several under-served corners of the healthcare market. Products it is working on include intestinal-bacteria-based cures for bowel disease, and computer games that can be used instead of drugs to treat children with ADHD. 142p
Three to sell
Debenhams
Shares
Debenhams is cheap, but it’s “no buying opportunity”. The high-street clothing market is already tough and the falling pound will increase Debenhams’ costs, squeezing its profit margins even further. Footfall, meanwhile, is weak, the group has too much floor space and its new food concessions smack of desperation. The business is “losing its way”. 54p
Ibstock
The Sunday Times
Brick maker Ibstock has seen its share price fall by 36% since the referendum result and at five times earnings it is far cheaper than many other building suppliers. It also proved surprisingly resilient when the housing market crashed in 2008. But if a housing downturn takes hold, the pain for “the brickies” is only just beginning. It’s best to avoid catching a falling brick. “Sell.” 134p
Hogg Robinson
Investors Chronicle
Hogg Robinson specialises in business travel. It has done well in its efforts to transition from telephone to online bookings and its shares have also done well – they trade on around nine times projected earnings. However, the post-referendum backdrop could hardly be worse. The travel sector is reeling, businesses are tightening their travel budgets and UK passenger numbers are due to fall. 72p
And the rest
| Buys | |
|---|---|
| Begbies Traynor | he insolvency specialist will thrive in a recession (Investors Chronicle) 47p |
| Centamin | The gold miner is upping production and paying out dividends (Daily Mail) 160p |
| ICAP | Its deal with Tullett Prebon will create two industry leading brokers (Shares) 396p |
| Intertek | A weak pound will boost earnings at the product testing firm (Telegraph) 3,579p |
| RPC Group | Revenues are flying and the falling pound should give them a lift (Times) 813.5p |
| St James’s Place | The wealth manager has a stellar track record of upping inflows (Shares) 770p |
| Watkin Jones | Watkin is profiting from the student accommodation sector (Inv. Chr.) 107p |
| WH Smith | The newsagent sells cheap impulse items that fly off the shelves (Shares) £14.92 |
| Xaar | The inkjet specialist is bumping up its profit margins in the US (Shares) 440p |
| Sells | |
| Drax | UK coal plant closures are a big threat to the power group (Telegraph) 349.5p |
| JD Wetherspoon | Competition is fierce and the living wage will be costly (Telegraph) 715p |
Directors’ dealings
Stephen Hodges, the razor-sharp head of banking at Close Brothers, is scooping up shares in the merchant-banking group at a three-year low after the UK’s referendum result sent banking stocks tumbling. The bank is known for its deeply conservative loan book, but from peak to trough even its shares have fallen by nearly a third in recent weeks. They have since rebounded strongly to £11.12, but Hodges piled in at £10.84, buying 40,000 shares for £434,000. Originally with Hambros bank, he has been with Close Brothers since 1985.
An American view
Northern Trust is “an appealing investment”, says Sandra Ward in Barron’s. The Chicago-based firm manages money for high-net-worth individuals and families. It also provides accounting, record-keeping and other back-office services to other asset-management firms. Northern Trust’s assets under custody and management grew by 2% to $7.93trn in the first quarter. Fees and revenues are expanding at an annual rate of 6% and 8% respectively.
The group also boasts an 11.4% return on equity, “which outshines its bigger rivals”, and has a good track record of returning capital to shareholders: it has just raised its dividend, which it managed to maintain during the financial crisis, and announced a share buyback programme.