Fortune Favours the Brave

Headlines this week told us Fortune Favours the Brave and hinted smart investors should look at small caps. Top stock picks in Stockomendation were a mix of BUY, SELL and AVOID with all top stocks 83% BUY, 9% SELL and 8% HOLD. Interestingly, UK Share Picking Game January league ALL Top 3 stock pickers won with 100% BUY tips!

1. BUY Senior

Top interesting stock pick this week was BUY Senior by Jefferies with a tip performance of 10%.

The Rickmansworth engineering holding company rocked the boat as the third top mover in the FTSE 250 on Wednesday after a Tuesday announcement said profits would outperform forecasts due to its Flexonics business unit sales and other divisions trading in line with expectations.

It’s not all been plain sailing for this component manufacturer with COVID supply chain issues putting a dent in its share price but seems to be bouncing back with share price steadily rising since the increase in demand for heavy vehicle, power and energy parts.

Senior in name, senior in nature as this veteran listed way back in 1988 at the opening price of 41p. The all-time high of 335p in 2015 preceded the COVID slump to 51p but things look on the up at 160p today.

Jefferies has had a BUY rating on Senior since 2014 with those paying off since 2020. Of 5 analysts 3 are buy, 1 neutral and 1 underperform. See more data

2. SELL Guild Esports

The picture is not as rosy with second most interesting stock pick this week being SELL Guild Esports by Tom Winnifrith in ShareProphets with a tip performance of 10%.

David Beckham’s esports company sorry ‘fan-focused team organisation and lifestyle brand’ manages online players in global gaming. The things one can make money out of these days never ceases to amaze and this is truly one idea that does that. Well amaze us, not necessarily make money as it has lost value since listing at 8p in 2020 to today where it sits at 1p.

As ever Tom delivers the inside scoop in his article which is shall we say spicy in a way that a reader may not believe what they are reading. The short of it is that a spat with the auditor led to the resignation of said auditor at quite a key point in the timetable. In addition, governance rules were not followed in regards to a fundraise that the Directors announced and there was improper disclosure.

Tom goes on to write any investor who doesn’t divest is insane and I think we can take from that what we will.

3. BUY Pets at Home

Third interesting stock pick this week was BUY Pets at Home Group by Shore Capital with a tip performance of 10%.

It’s up and up for these doggie heaven curtailers of rare pet delights that launched at 241p in 2014 and has steadily risen to 356p today. The pandemic-fuelled demand for pets and pets supplies is seeing no end soon, according to the 453 store retailer, with continued increase in profit forecasted this week mostly due to growth in registrations in its veterinary division. Shares were up 11% on Tuesday at the announcement. The CEO also mentioned the Christmas range had a positive impact, probably due to British pet owners love of dressing their dogs as Santa during in the festive season.

Shore Capital has had BUY or HOLD ratings on the retailer since 2018. Of 5 analysts in Stockomendation, 4 rate it as BUY and 1 UNDERPERFORM.

Forewarned is forearmed! As always you can see the aggregate data in Stockomendation which equips you to make good investing decisions. Check out www.stockomendation.com before your next trade for maximum understanding of your target stock.

Image credit: Fortune Favours the Brave © Circe Denyer

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Disclaimer: The contents of this article should not be considered financial advice. Pricing data correct as at 2nd February 2023.