While the current stock market volatility clearly has some investors in a panic, others are calmly seeking out great shares to buy. This latter group of investors understands that periods of intense market volatility can create lucrative investment opportunities that don’t come around very often.
Looking for opportunities in the UK market today? Here are three stocks that could be worth a closer look.
Big dividends on offer
UK investors love big dividends so let’s start with a stock sporting a high yield, Aviva (LSE: AV.). It’s a well-established insurance and investment company.
Its share price has recently fallen to around 620p, versus 700p earlier in the year. At the current share price, the stock is trading on a forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of about 11 and offering a 6.4% dividend yield.
This company has been performing well recently. Last year, for example, group adjusted profit was £2.2bn, up from £1.8bn in 2024.
On the back of this performance, the insurer hiked its dividend by 10% (signalling that management is confident about the future). It also announced a £350m share buyback.
It’s worth noting that if the stock market keeps falling, Aviva’s wealth management revenues are going to take a hit.
Taking a five-year view though (our preferred time horizon here at The Motley Fool), I think Aviva shares should provide attractive returns.
An oversold name
Next we have Marks & Spencer (LSE: MKS). I see this retail stock as more of an oversold name that could rebound.
It’s currently trading near 340p. Back in late February, it was near 410p.
Now, when I talk about this stock being ‘oversold’, I’m not just saying it because the share price has tanked. I’m actually referring to a technical indicator known as the Relative Strength Index (RSI).
This measures the magnitude of share price movements. With this indicator, a reading under 30 signals that a stock is oversold and Marks and Spencer currently has a reading of 29.
I’ll point out that the spike in oil prices is a risk for this company. It could lead to higher transportation and energy costs and also potentially impact consumer demand.
One thing that this company has going for it, however, is that its customer base is a little more affluent. This could shelter it from a consumer slowdown.
A cheap AI stock
My third stock is a little racier. It’s Volex (LSE: VLX), a UK-based manufacturer of power cords, cables, and data connectivity products for ‘mission critical’ applications.
It’s currently trading for about 428p. This time last month, its share price was near 500p.
This company has momentum at the moment, thanks to its strategy of focusing on high-growth markets such as data centres (AI) and electric vehicles. In January, it said that revenue for the first nine months of its financial year was up 15% year on year and that full-year revenue would be ahead of expectations.
Of course, manufacturing tends to be cyclical. So, if we see an economic collapse as a result of high oil prices, this stock could underperform.
With the price-to-earnings ratio now under 15, however, I like the risk/reward set-up. I think it’s worthy of further research.
