There are however, big discounts still on offer. So I don’t think investors should be put off by a rising stock market.

Vistry

I was thinking of buying shares in FTSE 250 housebuilder Vistry (LSE:VTY). But the stock surged 15% on Wednesday (8 April) which is annoying. 

A rising price though, doesn’t automatically mean a stock’s expensive. And I think this is a good illustration of that point. 

The main challenge facing the firm though, is still there. It’s the fact that affordability issues mean its existing inventory isn’t shifting. Like most other builders, the company’s selling these at lower prices. But that isn’t a good thing for margins in the short term.

Fortunately, Vistry’s in a unique position. It operates through partnerships with housing associations, local authorities, and rental agencies. I think these connections are set to be a huge advantage. The UK has just launched a £39bn plan for affordable housing that lasts 10 years.

Vistry’s existing relationships mean a lot of this could come the company’s way. And the current market value is £1.1bn. In my view, that’s still a very attractive equation. So despite the rising share price, I’m still interested in buying. 

Judges Scientific

Unlike a lot of UK shares, Judges Scientific (LSE:JDG) didn’t really move on Wednesday. As a result, the stock still looks cheap to me. 

The scientific instrument firm’s earnings per share are set to fall in 2026, which isn’t a good sign. But it’s worth looking more closely at why. 

One reason is to do with Geotek – its coring subsidiary. Contracts in this business are infrequent and there isn’t one expected in 2026.  Management however, expects roughly three every four years going forward. So that means this year’s earnings will be unusually low. 

Another reason is the situation in the US. The administration’s attempts to research funding had been weighing on demand for scientific instruments. This however, has been shot down by Congress. In fact, it’s been replaced with increases to the National Institutes for Health’s budget. 

Judges Scientific isn’t seeing increased demand yet, but I think it’s coming. And if I’m right, the stock’s a lot cheaper than it looks. I expect 2026 to be a bad year on paper for the business. But I’m expecting a strong rebound thereafter, which is why I think the stock looks cheap.

Time to buy?

The stock market has just had a big boost from easing geopolitical tensions. So investors might think it’s not the time to be buying. My view though, is that this is a mistake. There are still UK stock that look attractive to me, even with prices generally heading higher. 

At times like this, there are two things to remember: higher prices don’t automatically mean stocks are overvalued; and not every stock is the same. A rising market doesn’t mean that everything’s more expensive.

Investors who keep these two points in mind are in a good position to look for potential opportunities. And that’s what I’m doing right now.

The post With share prices rising, is now the time to hold off buying stocks? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

While such a large fall could be a warning sign, the obvious question here is whether this is a golden opportunity to buy in at a low point? Are Vistry shares a dirt-cheap bargain?

Changes

An important first consideration is the rest of the housing sector. If we compare to the high that Vistry fell 76% from, we see that other stocks have suffered too. Other UK housebuilders like Persimmon (down 35%), Taylor Wimpey (down 45%), and Barratt Redrow (down 53%) have not escaped the carnage.

The major problem is that margins are getting squeezed all over. Supply cost inflation has been rising, wages have been bumped up, and mortgages are more expensive with interest rates set to rise. We would likely need to see some change for this notoriously cyclical sector to turn around here.

Vistry being the worst of the lot is likely down to the nature of its operations. As well as building and selling houses to the public, its completions are often arranged with partnerships – local authorities or housing associations and such. This can mean stability when times are good, but recently it has led to lower margins and alarming profit warnings.

To cap things off, long-time CEO Greg Fitzgerald announcing his departure has not helped matters either.

Key point

So what are the reasons for optimism here? The stand-out statistic is surely the valuation, a price-to-earnings ratio of just eight is one of the lowest across the entire London Stock Exchange. That means we’re getting a lot of earnings for the cost of every share – a sign the share price might be at a low point.

As mentioned, housing tends to be cyclical in nature. The boom years of the early 2010s saw many housebuilders go on a complete tear. The share price of Vistry – known as Bovis Homes then – tripled in less than five years without even taking into account dividends. The key point, perhaps, is that investors would have had to buy in after the 2008 crash.

Buying a strong share at a low point will always prove to be a winning strategy in the stock market. It’s not obvious that Vistry will be one of those rare once-in-a-decade buying opportunities today, but it very well could be. I think investors could give it consideration.

The post Are 76% off Vistry shares a once-in-a-decade opportunity? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

The weight of problems

The primary factor came earlier in March when Vistry warned that profit margins would fall this year because it’s offering incentives to boost sales and generate cash. It noted that buyers are struggling with affordability, so with the need to keep sales going, it’ll look to offer financing support and other measures. Naturally, lower profit margins will likely mean lower profits, causing the stock to fall.

Another factor was that the full-year results weren’t amazing. Revenue was down by 4%, with the CEO noting “near-term market conditions remain challenging and current international events introduce new uncertainty”. Talking about the CEO, Greg Fitzgerald, raises another point of recent concern for investors. At the start of March, it was revealed that he will retire from the top job after nearly nine years. He will remain as CEO for up to a year to facilitate a transition, but it adds another layer of uncertainty to operations for the year ahead.

Finally, the business is under pressure from a less direct angle. The conflict in the Middle East is driving energy prices higher. If sustained, this will feed through to higher UK inflation. This has already caused investors to adjust their forecasts for where interest rates go this year. Instead of anticipating multiple cuts, we could see the base rate stay on hold, or even increase. This is negative for Vistry, as higher interest rates also raise mortgage costs, further dampening consumer demand.

The direction from here

The sharp fall has pushed the stock to the lowest level in over a decade. Some may think this is a good time to buy, believing the stock to be undervalued. The price-to-earnings ratio has dropped sharply, and is now at 6.88. I use 10 as a fair-value ratio, so it’s clearly below that.

If we take a step back, it’s true that the UK still has a chronic housing shortage, especially affordable housing. Data shows that Vistry builds one in seven affordable homes in the UK. So long-term demand should be strong for the business if it can weather the short-term storm.

However, it’s a high-risk opportunity. The push to quickly sell properties has me worried about short-term liquidity pressures internally. If this is the case, it could be forced to take on higher debt to keep operating. This could lead to higher costs and weigh down the company further.

Even though I think the stock has suffered an excessive fall, I’m going to wait for a few weeks to see where the price settles before thinking about buying. It’s been a one-way ticket lower for the past few weeks, and there’s nothing right now that suggests it’s slowing down.

The post Down 43% in a month, what on earth’s going on with the Vistry share price? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

But sometimes a beaten-down stock can be a bit of a bargain. Could this be the case here? Let’s discuss.

What’s going on?

Vistry Group (LSE:VTY) was punished by investors last Wednesday (4 March). Its share price fell 25.6% following the publication of its 2025 results. The housebuilder’s shares were last trading at this level in November 2012. Nearly 14 years of going nowhere is hugely disappointing.

Last week’s events are even more depressing given that shareholders probably thought the worst was behind the group.

In October 2024, Vistry issued a profit warning after it discovered it had got some of its cost estimates wrong. Embarrassingly, just four weeks later, it had to announce the situation was worse than the group had initially thought. A third warning followed in December 2024, following a deterioration in trading conditions.

But a closer look at the group’s 2025 results suggests investors may have over-reacted last week. At 59.3p, adjusted earnings per share was 6% higher than in 2024. The stock now trades at an attractive 7.8 times historic earnings.

However, the group did warn that it was employing “targeted pricing and sales incentives”, which would lead to a “lower overall margin” this year. Even so, it expects to end 2026 in a net cash position.

What I suspect upset the City the most was the decision to suspend its share buyback programme. The group stopped its dividend in 2023, diverting the money saved to buying its own shares. This policy has now been scrapped with the group planning to use its surplus cash to reduce its debt.

A different business model

The group’s unusual in that its main focus is affordable housing, commonly defined as “housing for sale or rent for those whose needs are not met by the market”. In 2025, it built one in seven of these types of properties in the country. It should therefore benefit from the government’s £39bn Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP), which is to run for 10 years until 2036. The plan is to fund 300,000 new homes.

Even if the group doesn’t secure funding, many of its customers – including Registered Providers and Local Authorities – are likely to succeed. These partnerships accounted for 74% of completions in 2025.

Despite its recent woes, I think Vistry’s worth a closer look. It retains a strong balance sheet and has an order book worth £4.5bn. And despite tough market conditions, it managed to increase its average selling price in 2025.

But it might take a while before things start to improve so the stock’s likely to appeal only to patient investors. I’m confident that the group will be successful in bidding for SAHP cash – nobody in this sector of the market comes close to matching Vistry’s size and scale. But with planning bureaucracy and all the other red tape associated with government contracts, I suspect it will be a few years before these properties are built.

However, on balance, I think the stock’s one for long-term investors to consider.

The post Down 67% with a P/E of 7.8. Is this a once-in-a-decade chance to buy this downtrodden FTSE 250 stock? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

The main issue seems to be margin contraction as the company cuts prices to shift volumes in a challenging market. But I think that misses the bigger picture when it comes to this company.

What’s the problem?

Vistry’s outlook for the first half of 2026 isn’t particularly positive. The company has excess inventory that it’s looking to shift via discounts and it’s focusing on bringing down its debt.

Neither of these is a particularly positive sign. While lower prices have generated some strong sales growth in the company’s open market division, they’re also likely to cut into profit margins. 

Vistry’s open market sales are less than 33% of the firm’s total revenues. But they account for a greater share of the profits and that’s why margin contraction is such a concern for the firm.

Reducing debt isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but a closer look at the results reveals it’s coming at the expense of share buybacks. And these could have been a significant return for shareholders.

Vistry spent around £130m on buybacks in 2025 and with the stock down, that’s 10% of the total market value. But investors will have to wait in 2026 as the focus shifts to strengthening the balance sheet.

That’s why the share price has crashed. But while neither of these is a welcome development, my reason for owning the stock remains firmly intact.

The bigger picture

Vistry’s partnership division is what sets it apart from other builders. It builds for housing associations, local authorities, and private landlords, who then buy the properties. 

This means the company can build more houses with less of its own money and has more predictable sales. And right now, there’s another huge advantage to this approach.

There’s £39bn in government funding for affordable homes between now and 2036. Vistry’s established relationships give it a huge advantage as a partner – and the competition knows it.

Nothing in the latest report changes this. And the company expects strong demand in the second half of the year in its partnership business as the bidding process gets going. 

A 20% drop takes the stock to a five-year low, but what I see as the main reason for owning Vistry shares is still firmly intact. So that means I have an opportunity.

I’m looking to add to my investment in a big way. I can see why the stock is down and there are challenges at the moment, but the company looks fundamentally undervalued to me at £1.3bn.

Who needs a stock market crash?

A stock market crash that sends share prices down can be a huge opportunity for investors. But Vistry’s latest move means I don’t think I need to wait around for one of those. 

The stock is 20% cheaper than it was yesterday and my long-term thesis is still intact. So it doesn’t really matter to me whether or not other shares are falling – I’m buying this one.

The post Vistry shares down 20%! Here’s what I’m doing… appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Investors have been spooked by the housebuilder’s full-year trading report. Yet results were in line with guidance, and trading picked up during the second half of 2025. At face value, Vistry’s share price plunge might appear excessive.

So what’s caused the builder to collapse today? And could this represent an attractive dip-buying opportunity?

A stronger animal

Vistry is one the UK’s top housebuilders by volume, and a specialist in the affordable housing segment. It’s toiled in recent times as higher interest rates have crimped buyer affordability, and by extension sales of new-build properties have been hit, even at lower price points.

In 2025, the firm’s adjusted revenues dropped 4% to £4.2bn, as completions slumped 9% to 15,658. Yet Vistry was still able to grow adjusted profit before tax 2% from the previous year, to £268.8m. This was thanks to a rising margin, reflecting fewer contributions from lower-margin southern sites, combined with the firm’s strong negotiating power with suppliers.

Encouragingly, the FTSE 250 company said it’s kicked off 2026 strongly, with its year-to-date weekly sales rate per site at 1.42, up from 0.59 from the same period last year.

Vistry’s clearly a much more resilient beast than in 2024 when it released a string of profit warnings. So why is its share price plummeting?

Digging deeper

The problem is that while sales are up markedly in 2026, the builder’s having to cut prices to get the top line growing again. It means that Vistry’s expecting profits to remain unchanged from last year’s levels as buyer incentives hit margins.

Furthermore, while profits picked up last year, the company’s balance sheet remains pretty weak. Net debt dropped 20% in 2025, but remained elevated at £144.2m as of December. With profits tipped to flatline in 2026, any hopes investors had of dividends returning have been kicked into the long grass.

Finally, it was announced today that chief executive Greg Fitzgerald will step down within the next year. The departure of the 45-year-industry veteran adds more uncertainty during a tough time for the sector.

Are Vistry shares a possible buy?

Today’s plunge means Vistry’s share price trades on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just 7.8 times. That’s significantly below the 10-year average of 14-15.

Like all housebuilders, it faces significant challenges as the UK economy struggles and unemployment rises. But with interest rates tipped to keep falling and the mortgage market heating up, its sales should also receive strong support. Its focus on affordable housing also means sales could hold up well even if economic conditions stay tough.

Looking further out, I think the firm’s profits could rise strongly from today’s levels, as Britain’s booming population drives demand for new homes. So are Vistry shares a buy right now? While not without risk, I think they’re worth serious attention from investors seeking cheap recovery shares.

The post This FTSE 250 stock’s crashed 18% today! Is it too cheap to miss? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

While that’s changed a little bit in recent months, I’m still looking for opportunities to buy UK stocks. And there are a few companies that I’ve got my eye on for the month ahead.

The quality growth stock

Diploma‘s (LSE:DPLM) a FTSE 100 industrial components and equipment distributor. It’s not a stock I own, which is a pity because the company’s grown impressively in recent years. 

A strategy of buying smaller businesses and incorporating them into its network has generated outstanding growth. And it’s also well-protected from artificial intelligence (AI) disruption.

The risk with this approach is that there’s always a chance the firm might overpay for an acquisition. And although the company has an outstanding record – especially in recent years – success is never guaranteed.

The more the company grows though, the more its scale gives it advantages over the competition. The stock trades at a high price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple, but I think it’s worth considering.

The under-the-radar winner

Vistry‘s (LSE:VTY) a FTSE 250 housebuilder. The industry hasn’t been in a good way recently, but the latest £39bn affordable housing programme is set to launch. 

That means local authorities, housing associations, and other providers are going to be looking for builders to partner with on building projects. And this is what Vistry specialises in. 

Partnerships can be complicated and they definitely introduce new risks, but it’s a potential opportunity for a company that has a £2.3bn market value.

This seems to have largely gone unnoticed by investors. I already own Vistry shares in my portfolio, but I’m not averse to adding to my position at the current valuation.

The wildcard

Judges Scientific‘s (LSE:JDG) a scientific instrument company. And the stock has fallen 39% in the last 12 months as weak demand – especially from the US – has been weighing on sales. 

There are strong reasons though, for thinking that this might be set to pick up. The US Congress has rejected the administration’s proposed cuts to research budgets, opting to increase them instead.

To some extent, this highlights the key risk of selling primarily into markets where supply depends on government spending. That’s something that the company doesn’t control and can’t really influence.

Nonetheless, I think the stock is in a really interesting position. While management’s latest guidance was relatively conservative, there are reasons to expect business to pick up in 2026.

Which one to choose?

I like all three stocks, but my favourite is Judges Scientific. I can see strong long-term potential with the added boost of a potential recovery in 2026 for the markets it sells into.

I’m a big fan of Diploma, but I think I’ll get a better opportunity further into the future. And Vistry’s a very worthy candidate, but its long-term prospects just look slightly weaker to me.

That’s why I’m looking to buy Judges Scientific for my own portfolio. But I think all three are well worth considering for investors trying to find opportunities in the current market.

The post 3 UK stocks: which should I buy in March? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

That’s actually true of the stock market in general right now. But there are a couple of familiar names from the UK’s secondary index that make it onto my buying list for February.

Gamma Communications

Gamma Communications (LSE:GAMA) is a company I think is in the right place at the right time. The B2B cloud communications firm has two main things going for it. 

One is the upcoming switch off of the UK copper network and the other is its expansion into Germany. I think both mean the firm’s growth prospects are better than its share price suggests.

Gamma’s in a good position, but it won’t have things all its own way. It faces competition from no less a company than Microsoft – and that’s a risk for investors to take very seriously. 

A shift to cloud-based communications will likely involve voice calls going through Teams. And businesses can just buy packages from Microsoft instead of going through Gamma. 

It’s worth noting though, that the FTSE 250 firm is doing well on this front. It reported a 12% increase in the number of voice-enabled Teams users in its most recent six-month update.

There are good reasons for this – it offers a more reliable service than Microsoft and its bundled minutes can be cheaper for larger teams. At today’s prices, I’m looking to add to my investment. 

Vistry

Like Gamma, I think Vistry (LSE:VTY) might be on the edge of something big. The firm’s shifted away from traditional housebuilding and into partnerships at what looks like exactly the right time.

The UK government has allocated £39bn for affordable housing projects over the next five years. And the FTSE 250 company has a huge advantage over its rivals in terms of accessing this. 

Vistry has well-established relationships with affordable housing providers, which should put it in a much stronger position than its rivals. The trouble is, some might say its position is too strong.

Competitors are arguing that the firm’s advantage is unfair. They object that it has too much of a head start in terms of early insights into funding decisions from its work with Homes England.

The idea that Vistry might not be able to make the most of its advantage is a genuine risk. And that could result in future earnings being lower than I’m expecting in terms of the opportunity ahead.

Right now though, the stock’s trading at a lower price-to-book (P/B) multiple than Bellway, Barratt Redrow, or Taylor Wimpey. Considering its advantages, I think that’s a buying opportunity for me.

The time’s now

Both Gamma and Vistry look good value to me. But I’m not just buying because I think they’re cheap – I can see real sources of earnings growth for both companies in the near future.

In both cases, I can add to my existing investments while maintaining a diversified portfolio. So that’s what I’m planning to do in February.

The post As the FTSE 250 closes in on new highs, here are the stocks I’m buying in February appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Recent trading has been disappointing, but the company’s long-term competitive position is still intact. So I took the opportunity to add to my investment. 

What’s going on?

At first sight, Vistry’s results for the 12 months leading up to 31 December 2025 look pretty uninspiring. But beneath the surface, I think there are reasons to be positive. 

The company recorded £4.2bn in revenues, which was largely in line with the previous year. And a 2% increase in pre-tax profits isn’t really anything for investors to get excited about.

The big issue is that Vistry managed to sell fewer properties. The number of units sold fell 9% with open market sales down 11% and partner-funded units down 11%. 

While the firm began to move past its accounting difficulties in 2025, it wasn’t a particularly strong year operationally. And that’s why the stock initially fell 8% on Wednesday morning.

Reasons for optimism

The headline numbers weren’t strong, but there were some encouraging signs. The most obvious is that affordable homes completions were up 30% during the second half of the year.

That’s a clear sign that things are moving in the right direction. And the firm’s partnership model helped limit the effects of inflation, which is a key risk for housebuilders.

This didn’t result in higher overall sales, because a number of the company’s partners paused deliveries in order to refinance. That’s a reminder of the risks of Vistry’s partnership model.

Based on what the firm has said, though, these revenues should show up in the next 12 months. And there’s something else investors need to look at for this year as well. 

Affordable homes

The UK is about to set out on a £39bn initiative called the Social and Affordable Housing Programme (SAHP) backed by the government. This is set to run between 2026 and 2036. 

Local authorities, housing associations, and other providers are set to apply for subsidies to allow them to build affordable homes. And they’ll need partners to help them achieve this.

Vistry is already a leader in this space, having shifted its focus from building for the open market to partnerships some time ago. So I think they stand to benefit in a big way.

SAHP proposals are expected to be submitted in the next six months or so. And for a company with a market value of £2bn, the potential opportunity could be huge. 

Why I’m buying

I think Vistry’s latest results highlight an important point about the housebuilding industry. There are reasons to be optimistic over the long term, but the near future is hard to predict.

Short-term disruptions in the housing market or with partner funding can create volatility in any given period. But the long-term picture hasn’t really changed.

The UK still has a huge shortage of housing and a strategy for addressing this that I think should benefit Vistry in a big way. That’s why I bought the stock on Wednesday when it fell.

The post Why I bought the dip on this FTSE 250 stock this week appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

A tough period

I’m talking about Vistry (LSE:VTY). The share price might be up 30% over the past year, but this is slightly misleading as to where the stock is over the long term. It’s down over 50% from its early September 2024 price.

In Q4 2024 and into 2025, the company struggled amid multiple profit warnings, cost overruns, and deteriorating earnings expectations. One of the largest disappointments came in late 2024 when the company disclosed that it had understated build costs by around 10% on several developments in its South Division. Given this was expected to reduce profits by approximately £115m, the sizeable hit knocked roughly £1bn off its market value. It caused the stock to fall by 25% lower in just a few days.

It hasn’t been able to recover since then, as cost issues were revealed to be larger than initially thought. As this filtered down to lower profits in 2024 and 2025, investors logically reduced their expectations for the company’s value, causing the stock to underperform.

The turning point

I think the stock offers a rare buying opportunity now. To begin with, consider the valuation. The price-to-book ratio is currently 0.65. Apart from at the start of last year, when it was at 0.58, this is the lowest the ratio has been in the last decade. This could indicate the stock is undervalued.

Further, I feel we’re at peak pessimism about homebuilders. I struggle to see how things can get much worse. On the other hand, I expect several interest rate cuts this year. If we see three more cuts this year, taking the base rate down to 3%, it would be the lowest level since 2022. This would likely lead to higher mortgage demand given the more affordable prices on offer.

Finally, the UK Government’s multi-billion-pound Social and Affordable Homes Programme is expected to be pushed hard this year. It aims to expand capacity and deliver more partnered housing deals. As a result, it means Vistry is well-positioned to benefit.

The bottom line

A risk is that we could see further delays, cost overruns or warranty costs on past homes, which can negatively affect profitability. But given the attractiveness of the stock for a variety of reasons, I think it’s a company for investors to consider.

The post I think this is a rare chance to buy this beaten up FTSE 250 stock appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.