In my view, the London Stock Exchange looks packed with investment opportunities right now. This is great news for investors like me who are willing to buy and hold shares for the long term.
In scanning for the most lucrative opportunities, I’ve identified two companies in particular that I believe are among the best UK stocks to buy for my portfolio right now.
A company with an ambitious growth strategy
I’m always on the lookout for companies with serious growth potential. One such example that has been catching my eye for a while now is sports fashion retailer JD Sports (LSE:JD.).
JD recently unveiled an ambitious growth plan that I’ve taken a particular shining to.
The company’s plan is to grow revenues and margins by double digits over the next five years. That’s alongside kickstarting a rapid store expansion in under-penetrated markets.
Provided it follows through, I’m confident the plan will ensure JD is well-positioned to become the leading global sports-fashion powerhouse.
What’s the catch?
That said, I’m aware of a few risks and future uncertainties that could take their toll on the company’s stock price.
For starters, expansion can be notoriously costly. JD will have to be careful with its cash to ensure profits aren’t impacted too much.
Moreover, any sharp downturn in consumer spending would obviously be a major blow to JD. After all, the sports fashion retailer’s fortunes are inextricably linked to consumer sentiment.
Despite this, I’m reassured by the fact that JD has a proven retail formula with buckets of space left to grow.
Ultimately, I’m confident in the retailer’s long-term prospects, which explains why I think it’s among the best UK stocks to buy right now.
Going for gold
Multinational commodity trading and mining company Glencore (LSE:GLEN) is the second company I’ve got my eye on.
Not least because despite being below market expectations, the company reported full-year revenue of $256bn. That’s a 26% increase over the previous year.
Moreover, underlying cash profit (EBITDA) rose an impressive 60% to $34.1bn, reaching record levels.
The strong performance was largely a result of higher and more volatile energy prices. Higher prices benefitted the energy products portfolio and particularly marketing and industrial coal assets.
What does the future hold?
High inflation rates and associated tighter monetary conditions present a substantial risk to the company’s outlook in 2023.
In addition, commodities demand over the next few years looks uncertain at present. This uncertainty could turn out to be a drag on Glencore’s stock price.
Nevertheless, the company looks in a very stable position to me. After all, healthy conditions over previous years have helped bring the balance sheet into good shape.
What’s more, net debt is virtually non-existent. As a result, the company’s the distribution policy is to return cash to investors to bring net debt back up to its $10bn target. That’s great news for dividend seekers.
That’s why I rank Glencore as one of the best UK stocks I would buy right now if I had the spare cash.
