Here’s a selection of top penny stocks and FTSE 100 shares I’m thinking of buying today.
An emerging market mammoth
Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN), like the FTSE 100’s other major banks Lloyds and Barclays, faces a significant threat from low interest rates. In fact, predictions of a lumpier economic recovery in emerging markets following Covid-19 suggests this problem may be worse for StanChart than its Footsie peers. Rock-bottom rates reduces the difference between what firms like these can charge borrowers and give to savers.
This doesn’t mean I don’t think Standard Chartered is a top stock to buy, however. From a long-term perspective, I think the FTSE 100 firm could deliver mighty shareholder returns as rising wealth levels in its Asian and African markets supercharges banking product demand.
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It’s worth remembering StanChart is the only major international bank with a presence in all 10 fast-growing ASEAN nations, regions where the financial product market is historically underpenetrated.
A top penny stock
The car manufacturing industry is having a tough time right now, due to supply chain problems. Unfortunately, it’s uncertain when the Covid-19 travel restrictions, Brexit-related trade friction and global container shortages which are causing the problems, will begin to abate.
This creates a significant knock-on effect for many UK shares like penny stock Lookers. But I think it could be argued that the problem is baked into the company’s current share price. Today, the motor retailer trades on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of below 7 times.
I find this valuation ultra-tempting given the company’s outperformance of both new and used motor markets (Lookers’ share of the new vehicle sector jumped 40 basis points in 2020, to 6.2%).
In great shape
Science in Sport is another top UK share trading below £1 I’d buy right now. This is because the company — which manufactures and sells protein supplements and other nutritional products — is in prime position to profit from the fitness and wellbeing craze.
According to Grand View Research, the protein supplements market will be worth $36.1bn by 2028. That’s up from around $20.5bn today. And Science in Sport has some serious clout in the market, thanks to brand-enhancing tie-ups with many professional sports teams and bodies. I think this is one of the best penny stocks to buy, despite the problem of rising raw material costs.
The FTSE 100 dividend star
The past isn’t necessarily a reliable guide to future returns, as they say. But I’m confident Vodafone Group will have the mettle to continue delivering above-average shareholder dividends for a long time yet.
The FTSE 100 firm remains a cash-generating machine. And thanks to the IPO of its towers, it’s given itself even more financial firepower to keep paying those big dividends. The company has also teased the possibility of spinning out its M-Pesa mobile money division. That could prove an extra boon to shareholder returns.
Today, Vodafone’s forward yield sits at a mighty 6.5%. I’d buy the telecoms titan despite the huge competitive pressures it faces.
