Every month at The Motley Fool, writers are asked to share their best UK stock idea for the month ahead. These tips can be an excellent source of investment ideas.
Here’s a look at how my top UK share picks for 2020 performed.
January
My top UK stock for January was warehouse company Tritax Big Box. I saw it as a good online shopping play. This was a solid performer. It started the year at 149p. Today, it’s at 164p. Add in the 6p in dividends received and the return is about 14% for the year. When you consider that the FTSE 100 has fallen about 14% (not including dividends) for the year, that’s a good return.
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February
In February I went with tobacco giant Imperial Brands. It was trading at a low valuation. This stock has been disappointing, falling from 1,950p to 1,544p. That’s a decline of about 21%. Over the same period, the FTSE 100 has fallen 11%.
March
For March I picked online broker Hargreaves Lansdown. It’s up about 2% since then versus a 1% fall for the FTSE 100. It’s worth pointing out that returns here have been boosted by dividends. During the year, Hargreaves declared a full-year dividend of 37.5p per share and a special dividend of 17p per share.
April
Picking a stock for April was not easy. The deadline for submission in March was near the peak of the stock market crash. I went with Diageo, which was trading at 2,587p. This pick worked out ok. Today Diageo trades at 2,914p. That represents a gain of 13%. But the FTSE 100 is up about 15% in that time.
May
In May, I went with property website company Rightmove. It was trading at 511p. Now, it’s at 643p. That represents a gain of 26%. Over the same period, the FTSE 100 has risen just 10%.
June
June was another good month for me. I picked IT company Computacenter. It started June at 1,604p. It’s now at 2,498p. That’s a nice gain of 56%. The FTSE 100 is up just 7% since then.
July
In July, I picked insurer Prudential. At 1,219p, I thought it looked cheap. Since then, it has risen to 1,353p – a gain of about 11%. That’s about double the return of the FTSE 100.
August
My top share for August was Reckitt Benckiser. This was another disappointing performer. It started August at 7,706p. Now it’s at 6,494p. That’s a fall of about 16%, while the FTSE 100 has climbed about 10%. I’m surprised by this underperformance as results were good.
September
In September, I went with Boohoo. It has risen from 290p to 335p since then. That’s a gain of about 16% – well above the FTSE 100’s 9%.
October
I picked Diageo again in October. It’s up about 10% since then, which is a decent return in just a few months. The FTSE 100 is up 11%, however.
November
I chose Hargreaves Lansdown again. Since then, HL shares have risen from 1,352p to 1,552p – a gain of 15%. That’s a good result but a little below the FTSE 100’s return of 17%.
December
Finally, I went with Reckitt Benckiser again. I liked the fact that insiders bought shares in November. It hasn’t moved much this month.
Overall, I think this is a solid performance in a highly unpredictable year. Imperial Brands and Reckitt Benckiser were disappointing share tips. However, these losses were more than offset by decent gains from Computacenter, Rightmove, and Tritax BigBox.
