At this time of year, British investors are often looking for shares to buy for their portfolios. This makes sense as picking individual stocks has been the most effective way to play the UK stock market in recent years.
Here, I’m going to highlight three UK shares to consider for 2025 and beyond. All of these companies have been excellent long-term investments, pay growing dividends, and look set to benefit from powerful trends in the years ahead, yet also offer some value today.
Diageo
First up, we have Diageo (LSE: DGE), a solid blue-chip dividend stock. It’s the owner of Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray, Guinness (which is in high demand right now) and many other well-known alcohol brands.
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This stock’s had a rough few years. Not only has the company faced inventory challenges but it has been hit by concerns that people are now drinking less (this is a long-term risk).
The outlook appears to be improving though. Analysts at Jefferies believe that business performance will pick up in 2026. As a result, they recently upgraded the stock to a Buy. This is understandable as share prices usually move in advance of actual trading.
At present, Diageo trades on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 18.3 and offers a dividend yield of 3.3%. I see these as attractive metrics given the company’s track record (20+ consecutive dividend increases) and long-term growth potential.
Gamma Communications
Next, we have Gamma Communications (LSE: GAMA). It’s an AIM-listed company that specialises in unified business communications.
This is classic growth-at-a-reasonable-price (GARP) stock, in my view. For 2024, Gamma’s revenue is forecast to grow by around 10%, which is a decent level of top-line growth. Yet the stock isn’t particularly expensive. Currently, the P/E ratio’s only 16.7.
One reason I’m bullish on this stock as we head towards 2025 is that the company plans to move to the UK main market next year. This move could bring in a whole new investor base (including index funds) and push the share price up.
Of course, a risk is that this move doesn’t go through. Even if it doesn’t however, the growth story associated with digital transformation is attractive.
It’s worth noting that Barclays has a price target of 2,150p. That’s about 40% above the current share price.
Computacenter
Another UK stock that could benefit from the digital transformation theme is Computacenter (LSE: CCC). It helps companies and government organisations with IT infrastructure.
Recently, performance here has been hurt by a slowdown in corporate tech spending. As a result of economic uncertainty, many companies have reigned in their spending.
These conditions could persist in the near term however, so I suspect 2025 will be a better year for corporate spending, especially in the US. With more economic clarity now that Donald Trump’s going to be President, firms should have more confidence to invest in tech solutions that can drive growth and efficiency.
This stock offers a nice mix of growth potential and income, in my view. The P/E ratio’s only 11.3 so there’s potential for a valuation rerating. Meanwhile, the yield’s about 3.6%. So it could provide some nice passive income.
It’s perhaps significant that JP Morgan has a price target of 2,900p. That’s nearly 40% above the current share price.
