I’ve been on a buying spree since the summer, snapping up one FTSE 100 share after another and sticking them into a self-invested personal pension (SIPP). It’s early days but I’ve made a promising start.
Ten of the stocks I’ve bought are in positive territory, with Legal & General Group, fund manager M&G and Lloyds Banking Group posting double-digit growth in just a few months. They’re also paying me dividends.
I’m proudest of housebuilder Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW). While writing about the stock over the summer, I got a strong feeling that it was primed for a recovery and already feel vindicated.
Loading up on shares
I decided that talk about a house price crash had been overdone and Taylor Wimpey looked oversold and dirt cheap trading at around five times earnings.
First-half pre-tax profits had crashed 28.9% to £237.5m, but it still boasted a healthy £2.1bn order book. It also had net cash of £654.9m and the board was sticking to its policy of returning 7.5% of net assets to investors every year.
With demand for housing continuing to outstrip supply, I invested a tentative £1k on 1 September at 114p per share. That purchase is up more than 25% at today’s 144p and I’ve since invested another £3k and wish I’d gone bigger. Over the last year, the Taylor Wimpey share price is up 31.91%.
I also received my first dividend on 21 November of £79.95. I’m up £695 overall, an increase of 17.04%. Yes, I know we’re not talking big money here, but it’s strangely satisfying.
Just two of my SIPP stock picks are in the red, although I’m not worried about miner Glencore. It’s slipped just 0.45% and I knew that would be a slow burner, as the Chinese economy struggles. I’ll happily reinvest my 7.74% yield until it picks up.
I feel let down by consumer goods giant Unilever (LSE: ULVR) though. I invested £2k on 7 June. In contrast to all the other stocks mentioned here, I haven’t gone back for more. So far I’m down 6.11%, or £122, which isn’t a disaster but still deflating. Over one year, the Unilever share price is down 7.48%.
There’s always one
I knew Unilever was in a mess and hoped to get in ahead of the recovery. It got embroiled in today’s culture wars when management really needed to focus on growth. Now it’s being investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority over alleged greenwashing and faces calls for a break-up too.
The cost-of-living crisis inevitably hit sales. But Unilever has made missteps of its own, in contrast to Taylor Wimpey which has been a lot more surefooted.
The group suffered a 3.8% dip in Q3 sales amid weak nutrition and ice cream performance. It looks cheap by its own standards, on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ration of 17.14 times. And the yield has edged up to 3.87%. New CEO Hein Schumacher is prioritising faster growth from its 30 power brands, which represent around 70% of turnover, and I’m hoping for a brighter 2024.
I’ll hold rather than sell. Unilever has too many strengths to struggle for long. Yet I wish I’d invested more in well-run Taylor Wimpey and shunned poorly run Unilever, if only on principle.
