If you want to become an ISA millionaire, you need solid FTSE 100 stocks in your portfolio alongside the whizzy growth ones. I recommend you look at the Reckitt Benckiser Group (LSE: RB) share price, which has actually risen during the Covid-19 crisis. Not many FTSE 100 stocks can say that.
Reckitt Benckiser is up another 5% today after reporting a jump in first-quarter sales and lifting its full-year outlook. The household cleaning goods specialist is a rare beneficiary of this year’s meltdown, and I’d buy it.
The Reckitt Benckiser share price is not exactly a bargain, trading at 18.34 times earnings. Given that investors can typically expect to pay around 22 to 24 times earnings, that price looks tempting to me.
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I’ve been hailing the stock as a buy for years. If anything, the crisis has strengthened my belief in its long-term income and growth prospects.
Despite that, the Reckitt Benckiser share price has disappointed over the last five years, trading just 10% higher over that time. It has easily beaten the FTSE 100, though, which dropped 12% over the same period.
This morning, it reported a 12.3% rise in total first-quarter sales to £3.5bn, or 13.3% on a like-for-like basis. Unsurprisingly, growth was driven by strong demand for its hygiene and health products, notably Dettol, Lysol, Mucinex, Nurofen, and VMS.
Reckitt Benckiser does face coronavirus challenges elsewhere. Consumer demand was strong, particularly in March and April, but CEO Laxman Narasimhan cannot say if this was due to stockpiling. Even if that slows, I still think it is a long-term buy and hold for wannabe ISA millionaires.
I’d buy the Reckitt Benckiser share price today
Like every other company, Reckitt Benckiser faces operational challenges and costs associated with living under lockdown conditions, and these look set to continue for some time.
The trend towards better hygiene may endure, especially since a vaccine is so far away. On the other hand, people might relax and return to sloppier habits.
The Reckitt Benckiser share price tempts because the company sells everyday products that people need in their kitchens and bathrooms. That makes it fairly recession-proof as well. You can say the same about Unilever, which is also coming out well from the crisis. It could also aid your bid to become an ISA millionaire.
Unlike many FTSE 100 companies, Reckitt Benckiser is standing by its dividend. The yield on this stock is never spectacularly high – currently it is 2.7% – but cover is strong at 1.7, and management is typically progressive.
Right now, some investors will be keen to fill up their portfolios with bargain stocks whose share prices have crashed. However, you might want to find a corner for this good old-fashioned defensive play as well. It could underpin your ISA millionaire portfolio.
