SpaceX was valued at $1.78trn at its IPO earlier this month. Today, it’s worth $2.13trn, which is roughly three-quarters the value of the entire FTSE. For a company that’s yet to turn a profit — and isn’t expected to do so until 2028 at the earliest — you may see why I’m not tempted.

And why should I be? Sure, returns on SpaceX shares could rocket (no pun intended) if business at its Starlink satellite network surges. But there’s plenty of shares back here on Earth that are already delivering spectacular shareholder profits.

Take Games Workshop (LSE:GAW) and Sage (LSE:SGE). I hold both these FTSE 100 stocks in my Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP). And adding more of their shares to my portfolio is a far more attractive scenario for me than buying SpaceX shares.

Here’s why.

A 4,271% rise

Both SpaceX and Games Workshop shares appeal to the ‘inner nerd’ in me. The first speaks to my interest in space travel and watching sci-fi movies set in distant galaxies. The other taps into my love of building and painting miniatures and fantasy storytelling.

Yet my admiration for Games Workshop goes beyond the models, games and books its manufactures. I’m also impressed by the exceptional share price gains and dividends I’ve enjoyed down the years.

Over the last decade, the Warhammer maker’s share price has risen a staggering 4,271%. And I’m confident its shares can keep marching higher as profits soar, even as rising competition from other games manufacturers poses a danger.

Core revenues are expected to have risen at least 11% in the 12 months to May, latest financials showed. This is driven by soaring global interest in fantasy gaming. Games Workshop has a stranglehold on this booming industry.

A dirt cheap FTSE share

While Games Workshop continues to head higher, Sage shares have fallen sharply more recently. They’ve dropped on fears that the emergence of AI could damage subscriptions at the software company.

It’s a danger, sure. But it’s one I feel is overstated. So with a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 18 times, I think this FTSE 100 tech titan’s worth serious consideration as a ‘dip’ Buy. Its trading well below the 10-year average of 31-32.

I’m sure plenty of companies will switch their accounting, payrolls and HR activities to AI models. But will they do this in large enough numbers to disrupt Sage’s model?

I’m not so sure. Its services are cheap, and will firms really want to farm out mission-critical activities to AI models? Especially when Sage is integrating AI into its own products? Latest financials showed organic sales up 10% in the six months to March.

Sage’s share price is up 35% over the last decade. I think it could pick up momentum thanks to its own AI investments, and as global businesses increasingly digitalise their operations.

Should you invest £5,000 in Games Workshop Group Plc right now?

When investing expert Mark Rogers and his team have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Twelfth Magpie Share Advisor newsletter he has run for nearly a decade has provided thousands of paying members with top stock recommendations from the UK and US markets.

And right now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout stocks that investors should consider buying. Want to see if Games Workshop Group Plc made the list?

Royston Wild owns shares in Games Workshop and Sage.

The post Forget SpaceX shares! I’d rather buy these FTSE 100 growth heroes appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

Things are likely to get worse before they get better for many of these Footsie fallers. But for patient investors, I believe a lot of these shares could be brilliant recovery shares to consider.

Here are two that have caught my eye.

Dirt cheap

I already hold Persimmon (LSE:PSN) shares. If I didn’t, I’d look at opening a position in the housebuilder today. Its 19% share price fall over six months leaves it on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 10.4. Furthermore, the firm’s P/E-to-growth (PEG) is also inside bargain basement territory below 1 (0.7).

Times are tough for housebuilders as buyer demand dries up. UK construction output fell at the fastest pace in six years in May, S&P Global says, with the residential sector especially weak due to unfavourable market conditions and headwinds from elevated borrowing costs.

Yet in my view, the long-term outlook remains as strong as ever. Housing supply is extremely limited, and is worsened still by weak construction rates. When borrowing conditions improve, the current dip in building activity could give price growth — and with Persimmon’s profits — an extra boost.

The government believes 300,000 new homes are needed each year to meet the needs of Britain’s growing population. And Persimmon’s huge land bank puts it in great shape to capitalise on the eventual market recovery. Its reserve of 84,879 plots is equivalent to roughly seven years of supply.

Critically, around roughly 90% of this land bank has been earmarked for affordable homes too, a segment where the supply crunch is particularly severe.

Another FTSE bargain?

Sage Group‘s (LSE:SGE) a FTSE 100 share I’ve recently bought for my portfolio. Why? It’s slumped 18% in value over the last six months, providing me with an excellent opportunity to open a position.

The software giant’s shares have gained ground since I bought in. But they still offer excellent value, with a P/E ratio of just 19.2. That’s significantly below the 10-year average of 31-32.

Sage allows companies to simply manage a multitude of critical business functions. These include:

• Accounting.
• Payroll.
• Human resources.
• Enterprise resource planning (ERP).

Yet like other Software-as-a-Service (Saas) providers, its slumped in value due to rising AI risks. Investors are asking how much the Footsie firm’s profits will be impacted if firm’s switch to cheaper AI-based solutions.

It’s a good question. But in my view, these fears are hugely overblown. Sage’s services aren’t expensive, so the question is: to what extent will companies delegate critical processes to new AI agents just to save a few pounds? I’m unconvinced we’ll see a mass migration from reputable service providers.

Overall, I’m still expecting Sage’s profits to continue growing steadily as firms increasingly digitise their operations.

Should you invest £5,000 in Persimmon Plc right now?

When investing expert Mark Rogers and his team have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Twelfth Magpie Share Advisor newsletter he has run for nearly a decade has provided thousands of paying members with top stock recommendations from the UK and US markets.

And right now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout stocks that investors should consider buying. Want to see if Persimmon Plc made the list?

Royston Wild owns shares in Persimmon and Sage.

The post 2 beaten-down FTSE 100 bargains I’m tipping to rebound! appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

Not so with Sage. In fact, it’s one of the FTSE 100‘s greatest dividend growth shares. It’s grown annual payouts for 35 straight years, with annual dividends over the last decade increasing at an average rate of 4.9%.

The question is, what’s made Sage such a dividend powerhouse? And can it keep delivering steady dividend growth?

Cash machine

All quality dividend growth stocks have strong records of cash generation. Their free cash flow is used to pay dividends today, and to reinvest in the business to fund long-term payouts.

In the case of Sage, cash generation is especially strong. Unlike companies that need to build factories or require large product inventories, its operations are capital-light — once it develops a software product, it can sell extra subscriptions at little additional cost.

Sage’s strong cash flows also reflect its Software as a Service (SaaS), subscription-based model, which provide reliable recurring revenues. On top of this, by focusing on essential accounting, payroll and HR software, cash generation is given added durability across the economic cycle.

It’s also important to remember the FTSE firm’s leading position in a fast-growing market. As companies rapidly digitalise their operations, revenues and cash flows are increasing, pushing dividends higher.

Finally, Sage maintains a low payout ratio of roughly 50%. The result? Dividend growth is more sustainable over time.

What’s the catch?

Like any share, Sage is still exposed to potential dividend shocks. So what are the dangers here?

Arguably the biggest threat to dividends might be the growth of AI and its disruptive effect on SaaS providers. As AI agents become more sophisticated, it’s conceivable that businesses looking to trim costs might migrate away from Sage’s services.

City analysts aren’t expecting this to impact dividends here over the medium term, though. They’re tipping last year’s 21.85p per share reward to rise to:

• 23.33p in 2026
• 24.88p next year
• 26.99p in 2028

Following Sage’s recent share price drop, this leaves dividend yields of 2.8%-3.2% for the period. Those are miles above the 10-year average of 2.1%.

Sage looks in good shape to meet broker forecasts, too, with dividend cover ranging from 1.9 times–2.3 times up to 2028.

Are Sage shares a potential buy?

AI risks merit attention and can’t be ignored. But overall, I don’t believe firms will shift their mission-critical processes away from Sage at anything like the scale some suspect. So profits and dividends could keep rising strongly

Following recent share price weakness, the shares today trade on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 18.9 times. That’s well below the 10-year average of 31–32. For value investors seeking top dividend shares, I think it’s tough to ignore.

Should you invest £5,000 in Sage Group Plc right now?

When investing expert Mark Rogers and his team have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Twelfth Magpie Share Advisor newsletter he has run for nearly a decade has provided thousands of paying members with top stock recommendations from the UK and US markets.

And right now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout stocks that investors should consider buying. Want to see if Sage Group Plc made the list?

Royston Wild owns shares in Sage.

The post How have Sage shares become a dividend machine? 5 reasons why! appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

In other words, I’ve already done the hard work of researching the stock. And if it still looks attractive to me, why not buy more of it rather than something new and shiny?

With this in mind, here are two shares that I’m thinking about adding to in June.

Digital bank

Nu Holdings (NYSE:NU) is the company behind Nubank, the largest digital bank in Latin America. The company has been growing like bamboo in recent years, with revenue crossing the $5bn mark for the first time in Q1.

One thing I like about this disruptive fintech firm is that it’s already very profitable. In Q1, net income jumped 41% to $871m, compounding at an annualised rate of 84% since 2022.

Meanwhile, the return on equity (ROE) came in at 29%, which is roughly double what traditional UK banks generate. And with over 135m customers now using the platform across Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, further profitable growth looks very likely.

Despite this progress, the stock has dropped 35% since late January. The culprit is high consumer debt in Brazil, the lender’s largest market. If this gets any worse, it could act as a brake on Nu’s growth.

Taking a long-term view though, this doesn’t worry me too much. One reason is that the fintech is growing strongly in Mexico and Colombia, where management estimates it has only captured around 1% of the gross consumer profit pool.

Mexico is a massive opportunity— [the] market has a long runway ahead, and we are scaling into it.
Nu Holdings.

Moreover, the company is entering the US, which has more than 65m Hispanic and Latino residents. The firm notes that despite the highly competitive nature of US banking, a massive segment of this population remains under-served. 

There’s also the massive cross-border money transfer market (particularly remittances from Mexico to the US). Given these opportunities (and others to come), I think the firm’s long-term growth story extends beyond Brazil.

After the sharp pullback, the stock’s trading at a reasonable 18 times forward earnings. And the company has just announced a $1bn share buyback, which makes sense given the valuation.

Writing this, I think I’ve just talked myself into buying more shares around $12!

FTSE 100 software firm

The second stock tempting me is Sage Group (LSE:SGE), which has slumped 34% since early 2025.

The reason that investors have soured on the company — which provides finance, payroll and HR software for small and mid-sized businesses — is because of AI disruption fears. If these prove to be warranted, this will likely prove a lousy buy.

The thing is though, Sage itself is embedding autonomous AI agents into its customers’ core workflows, deepening its competitive position in the process. That’s because the accuracy and compliance needed for accounting is non-negotiable.

In H1 2026, underlying total revenue in North America rose by 14% to £616m, with strong adoption of AI-powered functionality. I see no evidence of disruption.

So, with the stock trading cheaply at 15 times forward earnings, I’m considering a top-up.

Should you invest £5,000 in Sage Group Plc right now?

When investing expert Mark Rogers and his team have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Twelfth Magpie Share Advisor newsletter he has run for nearly a decade has provided thousands of paying members with top stock recommendations from the UK and US markets.

And right now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout stocks that investors should consider buying. Want to see if Sage Group Plc made the list?

Ben McPoland owns shares in Nu Holdings and Sage.

The post 2 beaten-down stocks I’m tempted to buy for my ISA today appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

By any definition, Sage (LSE:SGE) is a high-quality Footsie stock. Barring the pandemic, it has consistently put up double-digit earnings growth.

Sage was at it again in May when it reported a 16% rise in underlying earnings per share (EPS) for the six months to 31 March. Revenue was up 11% to £1.36bn and there was profit margin expansion.

Yet the stock’s down 33% since January 2025 over fears that AI might disrupt its business. But what if these fears are completely misplaced?

Nick Train, manager of Finsbury Growth & Income Trust, reckons they are. He argues there’s a “once-in-a-decade opportunity to access exceptional growth assets at fundamentally the wrong price“.

Tellingly, Train has Sage as Finsbury’s joint-third top position. So is there a once-in-a-decade opportunity to snap up Sage shares on the cheap? Let’s discuss.

Positioned to win

As a quick reminder, Sage provides software that helps small- and medium-sized businesses manage their mission-critical finance, payroll, and HR operations. As the tech firm points out, these are areas “where accuracy and compliance are non-negotiable“.

Therefore, in my opinion, it’s very unlikely customers will be leaving en masse for a general large language model or external AI agents. Especially when Sage is already embedding AI deeply into their daily workflows.

In an agentic world, AI depends on trusted systems of record like Sage to reason and act, making our role more critical, not less…We’re scaling these capabilities fast, with AI-powered features now available to over 500,000 customers across the group, helping finance teams accelerate cash flows, close the books faster, and confidently turn insight into action.

CEO Steve Hare.

In H1, underlying annualised recurring revenue rose 11% to £2.73bn, with growth across all geographic regions. Meanwhile, the renewal rate by value was 102%, which reflected “higher sales to existing customers, including the growing adoption of AI-powered features”.

What we have here then is a company that’s clearly benefitting from the launch of new AI tools and services. Not only that, but the firm’s using AI itself to improve productivity across the business.

Sage expects operating margins to trend upwards over time. And beyond AI, the UK’s Making Tax Digital is another tailwind.

Once-in-a-decade chance?

In my eyes, the biggest near-term risk here isn’t AI but economic weakness. If things deteriorate, especially in North America (Sage’s largest market by far), growth could slow quicker than expected.

On the other hand, the stock looks dirt cheap today, at just 15 times next year’s forecast earnings. That’s very low for a high-margin software firm still growing at 9%-15% a year.

On top of this, March’s share buyback programme of £300m is underway, taking the total announced in the first half to £600m. These buybacks are earnings accretive.

Finally, there’s a very well-supported forward dividend yield of 2.8%.

For the record, I bought Sage shares earlier this year. But after the strong update in May, I’m considering buying more as I believe there’s a once-in-a-decade opportunity here. I think investors could do the same.

Should you invest £5,000 in Sage Group Plc right now?

When investing expert Mark Rogers and his team have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Twelfth Magpie Share Advisor newsletter he has run for nearly a decade has provided thousands of paying members with top stock recommendations from the UK and US markets.

And right now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout stocks that investors should consider buying. Want to see if Sage Group Plc made the list?

Ben McPoland owns shares of Sage and Scottish Mortgage.

The post Down 33%, is there a once-in-a-decade chance to buy this quality FTSE 100 stock? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down.

Having said that, targeting stocks to buy after they’ve sunk in value can be high risk. I’ve been rewarded by buying ‘falling knife’ Softcat shares earlier this year as the IT giant has recovered. My decision to invest in baker Greggs’ shares, on the other hand, has left me nursing a big paper loss.

I have no plans to change my strategy, though. Buying on the dip is a proven way to make stratospheric returns if you make the right call. However, have I made a big mistake by buying Sage (LSE:SGE) shares?

What’s going on?

Over the last year, Sage’s share price has plunged a whopping 31%. This has pulled the company’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio for 2026 to 18.9 times, falling to 16.1 times for 2027.

Both are below the 10-year average of 31-32. So Sage shares also appear to be a snip based on expected growth. Annual rises of 21% and 17% are tipped by City analysts for 2026 and 2027 respectively.

The thing is, there’s nothing in the company’s recent trading statements that suggests something is up. Annual recurring revenue and organic revenue both accelerated in the six months to March, meaning double-digit growth (of 11% and 10%) continued.

Operating margins increased 1% in H1 too, to 21.5% thanks to tight cost management and the transition to higher-margin products. Combined with that revenues surge, Sage’s operating profit surged 15% in H1.

Why is Sage down then?

Yet, for investors, fears over how artificial intelligence (AI) may affect customer demand just won’t go away. The question they’re asking is: just why will businesses pay a subscription-as-a-service (SaaS) company for their accounting and payroll functions when future AI agents could do this just as capably and at lower cost?

It’s a fair point. But on the other hand, AI could actually strengthen incumbents like Sage if they successfully embed these automated tools into their offerings. And judging by recent results, the business is making a really good fist of this, with the rollout of Sage Copilot and embedded AI agents keeping sales growth at double-digit rates.

It’s also interesting to note that Sage’s customer retention rates also continue climbing. I’m personally not expecting these to drop off, given the company is a trusted name in mission-critical areas like accounting, payroll, and compliance. The complexity and minimal cost benefits of switching providers also explains the durability of its customer base.

A 29% opportunity?

If City analysts are right, Sage shares could bounce back sooner than expected. Nineteen of them currently have ratings on the firm. Their average price target? On a 12-month horizon, it sits at £11.04, up 29% from today’s levels.

My view? While AI poses a risk, I think concerns over how this could affect Sage are now wildly out of hand. I think it’s one of the best FTSE 100 shares to consider given how cheap it is today.

Should you invest £5,000 in Sage Group Plc right now?

When investing expert Mark Rogers and his team have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Twelfth Magpie Share Advisor newsletter he has run for nearly a decade has provided thousands of paying members with top stock recommendations from the UK and US markets.

And right now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout stocks that investors should consider buying. Want to see if Sage Group Plc made the list?

Royston Wild owns shares in Sage, Softcat, and Greggs.

The post This FTSE share’s crashed 31%, and I’ve just bought it. Have I gone crazy? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

The thing is, I love buying quality shares on the dip. And especially when recent price action suggests the market has overreacted to something. So what’s happened here?

In this case, investors have heavily sold Sage due to AI-related worries, sending its share price lower. My view? The software giant is now one of the London stock market’s best value shares.

Why has Sage dropped?

We’re at the early stage of the AI era. But it’s clear this new technology will create significant opportunities for some companies.

But for Sage — which provides software for accounting, HR, and payroll functions — investors fear AI could have dire long-term consequences. They ask why businesses will pay for its software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscriptions when AI agents can quickly and cheaply automate accounting workflows.

These worries haven’t just hit Sage shares, though. The so-called SaaSpocalypse has caused scores of technology stocks to plunge in value over the last year.

However, in the case of Sage, I think these fears have been massively overstated. News last month provided the greatest indication yet.

What’s happened?

Even as broader AI adoption increases, business at Sage continues to boom. Annual recurring revenue and underlying sales both rose by double digits (up 11% and 10%, respectively) in October-March. Operating profit leapt 15%.

You see, Sage has a couple of major tools in its arsenal. CEO Steve Hare last month highlighted the first, commenting that

Small and mid-sized businesses trust Sage to run their mission-critical finance, payroll and HR workflows, where accuracy and compliance are non-negotiable.

He’s right. Though AI may be getting better at dealing with these critical activities, just how far will businesses be willing to farm these straight out to agents? I have severe doubts.

Seizing the AI boom

This brings me onto the second advantage Sage enjoys. It’s not sitting still and is investing heavily in AI itself. The result? As chief executive Hare says,

Eembedding AI directly into our customers’ day-to-day work [is] making our solutions more valuable, reinforcing our competitive advantages, and driving efficient, sustainable growth.

Sage has actually cited steps like expanding Sage Copilot and launching ‘intelligent agents’ as a reason for its accelerating sales and rising customer retention rates. Renewal rate by value rose to 102% as of March.

Stunningly cheap?

Despite this resilience, Sage’s shares have failed to spring higher. Even as the company raised sales guidance for the year. More fool the market, I say!

Why? Sage’s share price plunge leaves it on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 19 times. This suggests once-in-a-decade value for money in my view. Since 2015, the ratio has averaged between 30 and 31 times.

Like many UK shares, Sage could come under pressure if economic conditions worsen. But at current prices I think it’s worth serious consideration from savvy investors.

Should you invest £5,000 in Sage Group Plc right now?

When investing expert Mark Rogers and his team have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the flagship Twelfth Magpie Share Advisor newsletter he has run for nearly a decade has provided thousands of paying members with top stock recommendations from the UK and US markets.

And right now, Mark thinks there are 6 standout stocks that investors should consider buying. Want to see if Sage Group Plc made the list?

Royston Wild owns shares in Sage.

The post How has Sage become one of the FTSE 100’s best bargain shares? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

Take these three shares: Sage Group (LSE:SGE), BAE Systems (LSE:BA.) and Halma (LSE:HLMA). Between them, they’ve an aggregated almost 90 years of consistent dividend growth.

Want to know what still makes them five-star dividend shares to consider?

Sage — 35 years of growth

Dividends are never guaranteed for any stock. With Sage, its long history of payout growth could falter if the global economy implodes, taking corporate tech spending with it.

But what’s made it resilient to such shocks in the past? Its accounting, human resources and payroll software is essential for any business. This provides high-quality recurring revenues and cash flow, and makes it more resilient than most other tech shares. What’s more, its software isn’t especially expensive, which helps support a ‘sticky’ customer base even in tough times.

I’m optimistic Sage can keep delivering healthy dividend growth, as businesses increasingly digitalise their operations. I’m also encouraged by the FTSE company’s steps to embrace artificial intelligence (AI). The forward dividend yield here is 2.5%.

BAE Systems — 22 years of growth

Defence stocks are among the most reliable dividend payers out there. Their earnings are practically immune to broader economic conditions, given the importance of national security spending.

BAE Systems isn’t totally without risk though. With sovereign debt levels in the West rising, could governments have to cool spending on weapons? It’s possible, but it’s unlikely, in my opinion, as geopolitical instability grows. In fact, global defence spending rose at its fastest pace since the Cold War in 2025.

With strong government relationships, a diverse client base and market-leading technologies, BAE Systems looks in great shape to keep growing shareholder payouts. One final thing, its customer contracts tend to last for years, giving it excellent cash flow visibility for dividends. For this year, the forward yield is 1.8%.

Halma — 46 years of growth

Of this selection of FTSE 100 shares, Halma has the longest unbroken record of yearly dividend growth. Spirax is the only UK blue-chip stock with a better record (41 years of growth).

This is down to decades of consistent earnings progress, provided by a mix of healthy organic growth and contributions from bolt-on acquisitions. This has underpinned 22 straight years of record profit growth. That’s not all — with ultra high margins, Halma turns a huge share of these profits into cash it can then distribute to investors.

It’s also important to consider how Halma’s end markets have contributed to its resilience. The business sells safety, environmental and healthcare equipment which are often mission critical. The demand outlook for these technologies is strong, as safety and environmental regulations tighten across the globe, which bodes well for future dividends.

But remember that regulations could change later down the line, hurting sales. Halma’s forward dividend yield is 0.7%.

The post 93 years of dividend growth! 3 FTSE 100 shares to target income appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

Against the backdrop of the Iran War, investors’ appetite for riskier assets like equiries crumbled. ISA users didn’t even need to buy any shares to utilise some or all of their £20k yearly allowance. Just depositing cash was enough. Yet investor appetite remained muted.

Given the huge discounts many stocks now trade on, this is a missed opportunity, in my view. History shows that quality stocks always recover strongly in value when confidence in the stock market improves. Buying these cheaply can supercharge one’s returns over time.

It’s not too late to go bargain-hunting with a Stocks and Shares ISA though. Here are just twocheap FTSE 100 stocks that I think demand a close look.

Fresnillo

Precious metals stocks like Fresnillo (LSE:FRES) have had a bumpy ride of late. The reason? Dollar-denominated commodities like gold and silver have slumped as the US currency has gained momentum.

This leaves some tasty bargains to consider. This particular FTSE 100 miner now trades on a forward price-to-earnings growth (PEG) ratio of 0.4. Any sub-1 reading implies excellent value.

Despite their recent blip, gold prices are up 176% over the last five years. In my view, investors can expect further strong gains over a longer time horizon. Central banks are tipped to keep buying bullion to diversify their currency holdings and guard against risk. I’m also expecting demand from retail and institutional investors to keep rising as geopolitical and macroeconomic issues linger.

Buying Fresnillo shares does expose stock investors to the unpredictable business of mining and that’s a risk that can’t be shrugged off. But the Mexican company’s huge operational footprint means less risk than most other UK mining shares.

Sage Group

Over six months, Sage (LSE:SGE) shares have dropped a painful 25% in value.

Like Fresnillo, the software firm’s dropped sharply since the start of the Iran War. In this case, worries over company tech spending as inflation rises and growth slows has hit the stock.

But that’s not all pushing Sage’s share price lower. It’s also been a victim of recent AI-related volatility — could demand for its accounting and payroll software slump if businesses choose to do these processes with AI?

The threats are higher, no doubt, than they were six months ago. However, I feel the scale of the sell-off is overblown. Sage now trades on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 18.7 times. That’s significantly below the 10-year average of 31–32.

I feel the company’s strong long-term outlook remains intact. More and more businesses are digitalising their operations, and by embracing AI itself Sage is better placed to seize this opportunity. I think considering the FTSE 100 share at today’s low price is worthwhile.

The post Consider these FTSE 100 bargain shares in a Stocks and Shares ISA! appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

Want to know what makes them excellent turnaround shares to consider? Read on…

Growing market

Unite Group is the UK’s largest provider of student accommodation, operating 142 properties across 22 university towns. It’s slumped 44% in value over the last year during a tough period for the company.

Student numbers are still rising, but rental growth and reservations have cooled, reflecting pupils’ currently fragile finances. In February, the company cut its full-year guidance and warned that rents would grow at the “lower end” of a 2%-3% range. To add to its problems, the soaring oil price is raising inflationary pressures and interest rate risks. Borrowing costs can balloon for property stocks when rates increase.

Yet the long-term outlook for its market remains robust as ever. Britain’s centuries-old position as an academic hub isn’t going to change any time soon. I expect revenues and earnings to pick up sharply when economic conditions improve.

This makes Unite shares an attractive recovery share in my book. And right now it offers terrific value, with a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 9.3 times. But that’s not all — the dividend yield for 2026 is a pumped-up 8.4%.

One final thing: as a real estate investment trust (REIT), Unite must pay at least 90% of annual rental profits out in dividends. And dividend cover is robust at 1.2, making it a great share for dividend investors to consider.

Please note that tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each client and may be subject to change in future. The content in this article is provided for information purposes only. It is not intended to be, neither does it constitute, any form of tax advice. Readers are responsible for carrying out their own due diligence and for obtaining professional advice before making any investment decisions.

Another bargain stock to buy?

Sage’s share price has been hit by a double-whammy in recent months. It means the software share’s down 33% on a 12-month basis.

Firstly, it’s dropped on fears that widescale artificial intelligence (AI) adoption will hit client demand. Broader economic worries have also hit the broader IT sector, worsened by the escalating Middle East conflict.

It’s no surprise that fears of a cyclical downturn have hammered Sage’s shares. But have AI-related concerns been overblown? I think so. Over the longer term, I’m confident the FTSE 100 share will rebound strongly as sales increase.

I’m confident for a few reasons. Accounting, payroll and HR are critical processes in any business, and I’m not certain millions of them will be willing to entrust this to AI. Particularly when you consider what a low proportion of a company’s total costs Sage’s software account for.

Furthermore, Sage is actually integrating AI into its products to turn this danger into an opportunity. And it seems to be paying off, driving double-digit revenue growth.

There’s clear risk here, but I think this is more than baked into Sage’s share price today. The forward P/E is 16.5 times, miles below the 10-year average of 31-32.

The post Down 45% and 33%! Consider these 2 cheap stocks to buy in April appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.