The past year has been a crazy one for the stock markets. Despite the pandemic hitting the economy hard, UK stocks have overall gained.
Nonetheless, when it comes to individual stocks, there have been big winners and losers. While some have seen their value decimated, others have recorded up to triple-digit growth in their share values.
This article focuses on UK stocks that are up by over 70% in the last 12-months. Ideally, it is always best to buy shares that have dropped in value. However, based on recent market history, the big winners tend to win even more.
5 Explosive UK Stocks To Buy Right Now
1. Entain (ENT)
The best UK stock to buy right now is Entain.
Entain (ENT) makes it to the top of the list after recording gains of over 190% in the past year. The company is involved in sports betting in the UK, Europe, and many other jurisdictions globally.
Despite the massive rally in the stock over the past year, it still has lots of room for value growth going forward.
The biggest value driver to this stock will be the start of the football season in Europe. Unlike 2020/21, the 2021/22 football season is likely to be much bigger and more exciting.
That’s because fans are now being allowed back to the field. The result is that everyone who has a stake in the sport, including sports betting companies are bound to reap big profits.
With the potential for revenue growth high for 2021 and all through 2022, Entain stock makes for a good buy, even after its explosive growth.
Aside from the impressive revenue growth potential, Entain company also has a healthy balance sheet.
One of the most important fundamental aspects to any company is its cash flows. Without sufficient cash flows, a company cannot handle its operations efficiently. This can hurt its revenues and growth.
On this front, Entain looks pretty good. The company has an operating cash flow of GBP 710.3 million, and a leveraged free cash flow of GBP 585.28 million. This means it has enough cash to sustain its operations in the foreseeable future.
Besides, with revenues likely to get a boost in the upcoming football season, cash flow numbers are only likely to get better.
Entain’s debt is within manageable levels too. While the current ratio is below 1, it stands at 0.93, which is within what is usually considered safe.
As revenues grow in coming quarters, the current ratio figure stands to get better as well.
Entain’s charts look pretty attractive at current prices too. The stock has been trading in a bullish channel above the 50-day moving average support for the better of 2021.
Anytime it corrects, and tests this support it has bounced off it and continued the uptrend. It had a slight correction in early August, and it was bought up before it retested this support.
That’s a strong indicator that bullish sentiment is on the rise. Quite expected for a company whose core fundamentals are expected to get better going forward. Entain is definitely an explosive UK share to buy right now.
2. EVRAZ (EVR)
A reopened economy
EVRAZ (EVR) has also been a top performer over the past year. In the last 12-months to date, the stock is up by 127%.
The company makes and distributes steel, and has benefited from the sharp increase in steel prices over the past year.
After the lockdowns of 2020, many steel mills shut down their operations. However, demand for items that need steel such as grills and refrigerators shot up.
The result is that demand was chasing a limited supply of steel, causing prices to rise by over 200%.
For EVRAZ and other industry players, this has been a boom period. But can it sustain now that the world is reopening?
All indicators point to a potential continuation of high demand and low supply. That’s because a lot of markets are still struggling with the delta variant of the COVID-19 vaccine.
China, for instance, recently recorded an upsurge in the rates of infection. This means steel supply chains, and many others, could take longer before they return to normal.
The effect is that steel prices are likely to remain quite high, despite the fact that prices may ease up a little going forward.
Besides betting on high steel prices EVRAZ has some pretty solid fundamentals too. The company has strong cash flows, of over GBP 2 billion. This means it is sufficiently capitalized for its daily operations.
The EVRAZ company has pretty healthy debt levels too, as depicted by its current ratio of 1.38. This is a good indicator for two reasons.
First, it means that its current assets are fully able to cover all its current liabilities. This is good because the Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates at some point in 2022.
If this happens, EVRAZ is more than capable of navigating through this situation without putting a strain on its operations.
On top of that, its high current ratio means it has the room to buy more. This is a plus because as the world economy reopens, and demand for steel rises, it might need to borrow to expand operations. The room to take up more debt comfortably adds to this advantage.
Aside from its strong fundamentals, the charts look pretty good for EVRAZ. The stock has been in a correction for the better of August and has pushed through the 100-day moving average support.
This is largely driven by the expectation that the steel premium will soon end. It’s also driven by the fact that the stock will soon be trading ex-dividend.
However, a price drop is an opportunity to buy at a discount for someone looking for long-term growth. That’s why EVRAZ stock makes it to the top UK shares to buy right now.
It is not surprising that most analysts have given EVRAZ share a buy or strong buy rating.
Check Out: 5 Factors Influencing the Stock Market
3. Ashtead (AHT)
Construction is booming
Ashtead (AHT) is another UK share that has recorded explosive growth all through 2021.
Over the last 12-months, the stock has gained by 121%. The company manufactures general construction equipment and benefited from the explosion of the construction market in the last year.
Data shows that UK construction, especially the residential market has grown strongly over the past year. This has largely been driven by government subsidies to home buyers.
The best part is that the industry is not showing any signs of a slowdown. As the UK economy emerges from the pandemic, the construction industry has emerged as one of the top ones, in terms of employment numbers.
This means players in the industry are likely to keep recording growth going into 2022.
Ashtead’s charts already point to the investor expectation for growth. AHT has been trading in a bullish channel above the 50-day moving average for the whole of 2021.
On August 4th, a dip saw it test this support but was quickly bought up. Since then Ashtead has been trending up. That’s an indicator that investors expect it to keep gaining, despite being up by over 100% in a year.
4. Anglo American (AAL)
Commodities are booming
Anglo American (AAL) has recorded explosive growth of over 80% in the past year. The company exploits minerals such as copper, and these have recorded explosive growth in value over the past year.
This has largely been driven by logistical reasons due to the pandemic. However, prices of some of the minerals it exploits, especially copper, are likely to rise going into the future.
According to a report by Bank of America, copper supplies are dropping, while demand is rising. The bank postulates that this could see the price of copper rise to over $20k a ton by 2025.
This is already reflecting in the price action of Anglo American. Despite Anglo American stock gaining by over 80% over the last 12-months, buying momentum is on the rise, driven by the improving economy. For someone seeking growth, Anglo American makes sense to buy this explosive UK stock now.
5. NatWest (NWG)
Financial services are big business
NatWest (NWG) is another big winner. Over the past year, it is up by over 70%.
The company offers financial services, and the industry is on a growth trajectory. With the opening of the economy, this is one sector that is set for growth.
This means NatWest and other companies in the industry are likely to record growth in revenues, and value.
From a look at its charts, this UK share is on a growth trajectory. It pushed through the 100-day and 50-day moving averages in late July and has been gaining since.
It’s an indicator that investors are quite bullish on this stock and expect it to record even more gains in short to medium.
A Glance Into The Future
While the 5 stocks above have recorded explosive growth over the past year, the economy is still shaky. The impact of the delta variant of the coronavirus is still unknown. As such, it can be difficult to tell the direction these stocks could take in the future. Nonetheless, these British stocks can give investors value if things don’t take a negative turn.
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