Britain's most-bought shares w/e 20 May

These are the most-traded shares across UK markets last week. The figures provide a great insight into the way investors are thinking and where there could be opportunities. 

While this information is only a small sample of the UK stockmarket, it can provide a great starting point for further research. 

Most-bought blue-chip stocks

Top five most bought FTSE 100 shares according to the UK’s largest online stockbroker, Hargreaves Lansdown: 

Aviva topped the list of the most-bought FTSE 100 blue-chip stocks last week following the company’s first quarter trading update. The firm reaffirmed its commitment to increase its dividend for the year and return more cash to shareholders going forward. With the stock yielding more than 7% already, it seems as if income seekers have been topping up their holdings in the insurance giant. 

Royal Mail also made it into the top-five most-bought shares last week following its full-year results. Investors seem to be looking past the firm’s uncertain near-term outlook and concentrating on its longer-term potential as the UK’s largest delivery group. 

Commodity giant Glencore is also popular among investors. The miner and trading house looks well positioned to profit in the current economic climate and it also offers a dividend yield of 4.1%. 

Most-bought small and mid-cap stocks

The most-bought non-blue-chip stocks on the Freetrade, IG Group and Hargreaves Lansdown platforms in no particular order:

Darktrace proved popular with investors last week. The company’s directors seem to have led the buying with the executive team, including CEO Poppy Gustafsson, stepping up to spend around £500,000 snapping up shares. The buying came after a newspaper report that highlighted the link between Darktrace's strategy chief and software firm Autonomy, which is at the centre of accusations of fraud by HP. 

Investors were also buying gold miner Centamin. The Egypt-focused miner has a rock-solid balance sheet stuffed full of gold and cash, and has a great history of returning profits to shareholders. At the time of writing the stock offers a prospective dividend yield of 5.7% for 2022. 

Most-bought investment trusts 

Top five most bought investment trusts over the past two weeks, according to Barclays Smart Investors:

There is a clear theme in this list. Investors seem to be focusing on investment trusts that specialise in wealth protection in an inflationary environment. Ruffer is one of the big three wealth protection investment trusts, along with Personal Assets (LSE: PNL) and Capital Gearing Trust (LSE: CGT). 

Meanwhile, Blackrock World Mining is one of the only pure mining-focused investment trusts listed on the London market. It is one of the best ways to invest in a diversified portfolio of mining equities looked after by an experienced manager. HgCapital provides investors with exposure to a fast-growing network of unquoted investments, primarily in software and service businesses. 

Disclosure: Rupert owns shares in Smithson Investment Trust, Personal Assets Trust and Capital Gearing Trust.

Sources: 

https://www.hl.co.uk/shares/top-of-the-stocks
https://www.ig.com/uk/shares/most-traded-stocks-uk
https://freetrade.io/most-traded-shares#uk-most-traded-shares
https://www.barclays.co.uk/smart-investor/investments/most-popular/investment-trusts/

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