Morningstar's "Perspectives" series features investment insights from third-party contributors.
Looking for some last minute ISA stock ideas? Three top-performing UK and European equity fund managers pick a company for you to consider – and explain why they chose that stock.
Diageo (DGE)
Picked by Hugh Yarrow, Evenlode Income
A long-held stock within the portfolio, Diageo is a leader in the alcoholic drinks market with a portfolio of strong brands such as Johnnie Walker, Guinness and Baileys. It also has a well-balanced portfolio in terms of exposure to developed and emerging markets.
The last few years have been tough in terms of operational performance as emerging market growth has slowed. As a result, shares have under-performed and the stock offers a dividend yield of 3.4% – well supported by free cash flow.
In our view, the long-term potential for dividend growth is strong, the most recent dividend increase was more than 5%. In the near-term, there are also some positive dynamics at play. Diageo’s US sales performance is improving and the recent fall in oil should provide a tailwind for US consumption growth. The US market represents more than 40% of its profit.
Pandora (PNDORA)
Picked by Nicolas Walewski, Alken European Opportunities
We are bullish on Danish international jewellery maker Pandora. We visited Pandora’s operations in Thailand last month and its outlook is extremely strong, with growth fuelled by online and expansion into new categories. Pandora has been successfully focussing its energy on Europe and the US, while continued expansion in Asia will accelerate its growth even further. Pandora has 19 stores in Singapore and 40 in China, which puts into context the huge growth opportunity for the company. In fact, Hong Kong is one of its most profitable franchises.
Pandora has one of the cheapest price/earnings to growth ratios in European equity markets. This stock trades on about 15x earnings, with a growth rate above 30% – which is incredibly impressive. It is one of our top holdings in our funds.
Orange (ORA)
Picked by Stuart Mitchell, SWMC European
For years we have been intrigued by the strength of Orange’s franchise. The outlook for the group appears to be improving in a number of important ways. Management is working hard to reduce costs, but perhaps more importantly, European regulators have begun to acknowledge the industry has been weakened by fragmentation that long-term investment has been undermined.
Notably, 4G investment is said to be three years behind the US. The regulatory burden is consequently easing somewhat, while at the same time the process of consolidation has begun to accelerate.
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