Share tips of the week – 15 March

MoneyWeek’s comprehensive guide to the best of this week’s share tips from the rest of the UK's financial pages.

London Stock Exchange
UK stocks: universally reviled
(Image credit: © Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

We've pulled together some of the best share tips online and in the papers over the past week, from some of the top share tipsters around. 

These share tips can be a great starting point for further research if you're looking for new investment ideas, and they're not just limited to the UK. We also look at publications across the pond for investors who want to diversify their holdings internationally. 

Here are our top share tips of the week. This list is updated weekly on a Friday.

Share tips of the week

Five to buy

1. 1Spatial
The Mail on Sunday
The UK is an underappreciated technology “hot spot”, with a tech economy worth £800bn. Many of the Silicon Valley tech giants run UK operations and there is a thriving sector of smaller firms with specialist know-how. This Cambridge-based “geospatial data management” business “exemplifies the breed”. It works on the data used in “digital maps” that helps companies and governments to “understand where assets such as property, pipes and plant life are located”. The shares have climbed by 65% in five years, but as it continues to win customers there should “be more to come”. 62p

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2. e.l.f. Beauty
The Telegraph
This cosmetics group is one of America’s “most sensational” recent consumer success stories. The company tailors its offering to Generation Z, who love its clean, vegan and quality products at accessible prices. It achieves that tricky task through smart operations, with a “hybrid supply chain” that lets it pivot quickly between suppliers. On 57 times forecast earnings, “the rating is in nosebleed territory”, but it remains a favourite among fund managers for its strong growth prospects and excellent returns on capital. $201

3. McBride
The Sunday Times
This maker of supermarket own-brand cleaning products is cashing in on the cost-of-living crisis. McBride supplies “unbranded detergents” and sprays to 49 of Europe’s top 50 supermarkets, and the lines are booming as consumers trade down from pricey branded alternatives. The shares have soared of late, but still appear to offer value on 6.5 times next year’s forecast earnings, a discount of about a third to the pre-2022 five-year average. 94p

4. Premier Foods
Interactive Investor
The maker of Mr Kipling and Bisto gravy is “getting its act together”. Debt-fuelled growth in the 1990s took time to digest and there was also uncertainty over pension deficits. That has now been cleared up, freeing up cash flow for expansion and dividends. While processed food is out of fashion, many of Premier’s brands will always “be part of the national psyche”. On a forward price/earnings (p/e) ratio of just 11.5, the shares merit a fresh look. 156p

5. Primary Health Properties

Shares

This real estate investment trust invests in the “modern, purpose-built primary care facilities” that the NHS needs to deal with the challenge of an ageing population. Long-term leases to government-backed bodies make for a highly reliable income stream and near-100% occupancy rates; 28 consecutive years of payout growth put PHP among the FTSE’s “dividend royalty”. On a 21% discount to net asset value and on a 7.7% yield, the stock seems cheap. 90p

One to sell

Ocado 

Investors’ Chronicle 

Another year, another loss at this supermarket technology play. A pre-tax loss of £403m for 2023 actually marked an improvement on the previous year, thanks to a 44% surge in revenue from the “technology solutions arm”. Unfortunately, Ocado is now locked in an expensive new quarrel with UK joint venture partner Marks & Spencer over whether it was within its rights to change performance targets during Covid. Litigation may follow. While Ocado’s technology is expanding its global footprint, a patchy record, overly ambitious targets and a weak balance sheet are all reasons to avoid the shares. 435p

The rest...

PPHE Hotel Group
Investors’ Chronicle
PPHE Hotel Group has reported record annual revenue and cash profits for 2023. The average room rate at the Park Plaza operator is now 30% above pre-Covid levels and management has more than doubled the dividend. On 18 times forward profits, the shares trade at a discount to recent history so this seems a good entry point. Buy (1,255p).

Greencoat UK Wind
The Mail on Sunday
Shares in Greencoat UK Wind have wafted down since 2022 as energy prices have slid and because of questions about the extent of the government’s commitment to wind energy. These concerns “should have been assuaged” by the recent Budget, however, and the shares now appear “good value”, especially given the company’s “record of generous dividends” (139p).

JPMorgan Global Growth & Income
Shares
The JPMorgan Global Growth & Income fund has delivered chart-topping annualised total returns of 14.9% over the past decade. Fund managers can leverage JPMorgan’s vast global research capabilities to find good stocks. For those comfortable with adding exposure to US tech giants, the ongoing charge of 0.5% a year is a reasonable price for a “reassuringly diversified” global portfolio (551p).

Rio Tinto

The Telegraph

Commodity firms are suffering from soft prices for key raw materials. But FTSE 100 giant Rio Tinto’s “solid financial position” is still allowing it to invest for the future, such as expanding production at a Mongolian mine for copper, the key resource needed for the energy transition. The dividend is still attractive at 6.8%. On a mere 8.2 times earnings, the shares are a buy (5,026p).


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Kalpana Fitzpatrick

Kalpana is an award-winning journalist with extensive experience in financial journalism. She is also the author of Invest Now: The Simple Guide to Boosting Your Finances (Heligo) and children's money book Get to Know Money (DK Books). 

Her work includes writing for a number of media outlets, from national papers, magazines to books.

She has written for national papers and well-known women’s lifestyle and luxury titles. She was finance editor for Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Red and Prima.

She started her career at the Financial Times group, covering pensions and investments.

As a money expert, Kalpana is a regular guest on TV and radio – appearances include BBC One’s Morning Live, ITV’s Eat Well, Save Well, Sky News and more. She was also the resident money expert for the BBC Money 101 podcast .

Kalpana writes a monthly money column for Ideal Home and a weekly one for Woman magazine, alongside a monthly 'Ask Kalpana' column for Woman magazine.

Kalpana also often speaks at events. She is passionate about helping people be better with their money; her particular passion is to educate more people about getting started with investing the right way and promoting financial education.