What have a retailer, a bank and a tobacco company got in common?

They have all outperformed the Magnificent Seven over the last three years.  If you asked most investors which stocks have stood out over that period, most would turn first to the technology giants. These stocks have dominated markets and sentiment, led by a boom in Artificial Intelligence, meaning other more traditional businesses often get overlooked.

In the UK, there are stocks that have outpaced the Magnificent Seven, especially in the last three years when interest rates have increased.  What’s interesting is that they aren’t UK technology stocks.  They are more traditional businesses, but the scale of outperformance has been significant and surprising.  For example, Private Equity investor 3i has produced 180% total return since 31 December 2021, driven by the success of its European discount retailer Action.  This compares to a mere 42.5% from the Magnificent Seven.

While one can point to 3i benefitting from the popularity and fast growth of Action as the driver of its strong returns, the likes of NatWest and Imperial Brands have managed a total return 111% and 98% respectively without strong underlying growth.  Although NatWest has benefitted from the change in the interest rate environment and Imperial Brands has delivered modest profit growth by stemming market share losses there is another factor at play that is vital for investors and especially Henderson High Income – the significant cash returned to shareholders.

Notably, a proportion of returns drawn from the businesses came from dividend payments, which have grown over the last three years.  These have been supplemented by share buybacks at low valuations. Management teams have recognised their businesses are undervalued and used excess cashflow to buy back their own shares at attractive prices.

All this combined has compounded a very attractive total return proposition for investors over the last 3 years.  What’s more interesting is that despite the strong total returns both Imperial Brands and NatWest still trade on low valuations – less than 10x price-to-earnings.

Similarly, other companies held in Henderson High Income are also returning cash to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks e.g. HSBC, Shell and contract caterer Compass Group.  Despite all three companies not being tech businesses, they have still produced a significant total return over the last three years ahead of the Magnificent Seven.

While the UK equity market gets overlooked due to its lack of exciting tech businesses in hot areas such as AI, one shouldn’t ignore it given the potential for strong performance among more traditional businesses.

All performance, cumulative growth and annual growth data is sourced from Morningstar.

Source: at 31/10/24. © 2024 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete, or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance does not predict future returns.