Best- and Worst-Performing UK Stocks of October 2024

Standard Chartered and Pearson rank among the best stocks for the month, while the worst include Smith & Nephew and JD Sports.

Bella Albrecht 4 November, 2024 | 9:21AM
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The Morningstar UK Large-Mid Cap Index fell 1.5% in October amid struggles in the real estate sector. The large-mid index tracks the performance of the top 90% of the UK investable universe by market cap, and each month we screen from among the stocks in this index to find the best- and worst-performing companies. Data in this article is sourced from Morningstar Direct.

Best-Performing Stocks of October 2024

• Coca-Cola Europacific Partners CCEP
• Fresnillo FRES
• DS Smith SMDS
• Standard Chartered STAN
• Pearson PSON
• Games Workshop GAW

Worst-Performing Stocks of October 2024

• Vistry Group VTY
• JD Sports Fashion JD.
• Abrdn ABDN
• Smith & Nephew SN.
• Renishaw RSW

Best-Performing UK Stocks for October 2024

Source: Morningstar Direct.

Metrics for the Best-Performing Stocks

Fresnillo FRES

• Sector: Basic Materials
• Industry: Other Precious Metals & Mining
• Economic Moat: Not Rated

Fresnillo jumped 20.9%, having risen 35.5% from one year ago. The company’s stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.

DS Smith SMDS

• Sector: Consumer Cyclical
• Industry: Packaging & Containers
• Economic Moat: Not Rated

DS Smith surged 18.1%, having risen 100.3% from one year ago. The company’s stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.

Standard Chartered STAN

• Sector: Financial Services
• Industry: Banks - Diversified
• Economic Moat: None

Standard Chartered surged 13.5%, having risen 47.9% from one year ago. The company’s stock has a Morningstar Rating of 3 stars and is trading at a 10% discount to its fair value estimate of £9.95.

Pearson PSON

• Sector: Communication Services
• Industry: Publishing
• Economic Moat: Not Rated

Pearson advanced 12.4%, leaving the stock up 22.4% for the year. The company’s stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.

Games Workshop GAW

• Sector: Consumer Cyclical
• Industry: Leisure
• Economic Moat: Not Rated

Games Workshop rallied 12.1%, having risen 26.0% from one year ago. The company’s stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 1 star.

Worst-Performing UK Stocks for October 2024

Source: Morningstar Direct

Metrics for the Worst-Performing Stocks

Vistry Group VTY

• Sector: Consumer Cyclical
• Industry: Residential Construction
• Economic Moat: Not Rated

Vistry tumbled 30.4% in October, but was still up 28.6% from one year ago. Shares are 36.7% below their last high on Sept. 6, 2024. The company’s stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 5 stars.

JD Sports Fashion JD.

• Sector: Consumer Cyclical
• Industry: Apparel Retail
• Economic Moat: Not Rated

JD Sports slid 19.5%, having fallen 2.1% from one year ago. Shares are 30.2% below their last high on Dec. 20, 2023. The company’s stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.

Abrdn ABDN

• Sector: Financial Services
• Industry: Asset Management
• Economic Moat: Not Rated

Abrdn slid 19.1%, leaving the stock down 7.0% for the year. Shares are 29.1% below their last high on Dec. 15, 2023. The company’s stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.

Smith & Nephew SN.

• Sector: Healthcare
• Industry: Medical Devices
• Economic Moat: Narrow

Smith & Nephew slid 16.2%, but was still up 7.3% from one year ago. Shares are 22.8% below their last high on Aug. 1, 2024. The company’s stock has a Morningstar Rating of 5 stars and is trading at a 36% discount to its fair value estimate of £15.12.

Renishaw RSW

• Sector: Technology
• Industry: Scientific & Technical Instruments
• Economic Moat: Not Rated

Renishaw slid 14.3%, but shares were still up 6.5% for the year. Shares are 30.0% below their last high on April 2, 2024. The company’s stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.

Companies that are not formally covered by a Morningstar analyst are statistically matched to analyst-rated companies, allowing our models to calculate a quantitative star rating.


This article was generated with the help of automation and reviewed by Morningstar editors. Learn more about Morningstar’s use of automation.

The author or authors do not own shares in any securities mentioned in this article. Find out about Morningstar's editorial policies.

The information contained within is for educational and informational purposes ONLY. It is not intended nor should it be considered an invitation or inducement to buy or sell a security or securities noted within nor should it be viewed as a communication intended to persuade or incite you to buy or sell security or securities noted within. Any commentary provided is the opinion of the author and should not be considered a personalised recommendation. The information contained within should not be a person's sole basis for making an investment decision. Please contact your financial professional before making an investment decision.

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About Author

Bella Albrecht  is associate data journalist at Morningstar

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