MoneyWeek’s comprehensive guide to this week’s share tips
Antofagasta
The Telegraph
The price of copper has soared and structural undersupply is likely to keep prices buoyant in the longer term. Shares in this Chilefocused FTSE 100 miner have followed the metal higher, but there could be much more to come. The firm expects to produce between 670,000 and 710,000 tonnes of copper this year, and that figure could hit 900,000 tonnes by 2026 if it expands production at its operation in northern Chile. With “solid finances” and a reasonable valuation, the shares are a buy. 1,765p
Assura
The Sunday Times
Shares in this GP-surgery landlord tumbled by a fifth last year amid gloom about the property market. However, the FTSE-250 firm’s focus on primary healthcare makes it “more resilient than other property stocks”, especially at a time when the NHS (which provides 81% of the group’s income) needs to invest in more capacity. Indeed, the health service is prioritising GPs’ surgeries and pharmacies to relieve pressure on hospitals. Shareholders may need “patience”, but on a price/ earnings (p/e) ratio of 18 the shares are trading at a discount to their five-year average, so there is room for a rerating. 56p
Dr. Martens
Interactive Investor
Shares in this “iconic” bootmaker have endured a “near-relentless fall” since peaking above 500p soon after the 2021 flotation. Strong sales momentum among young women hasn’t prevented the brand issuing two profit warnings in two months. Yet on approximately ten times forward earnings and a 4% yield, the shares have finally fallen to a reasonable valuation for a consumer-goods firm. Weakness in sterling may also “tempt an international buyer to make an approach”, so now may be a good time to open “a starter position”. 145p
PepsiCo
Shares
A shaky global economy will make 2023 a year for “highquality, cash-generative firms with defensive characteristics”. This “soft drinks-to-snacks giant” fits the bill. Its strong brands have enabled it to raise prices and preserve margins even amid high inflation, and now falling commodity-input prices open the way for those margins to expand. Management has increased the dividend for 50 successive years and is now poised to buy back $10bn in stock over the next three years, making this “a terrific totalreturn stock”. $170
Pershing Square
The Mail on Sunday
This investment trust concentrates on listed North American companies, with holdings including Universal Music, Hilton Hotels and restaurant group Chipotle. The fund enables British investors to benefit from the “magic touch” of billionaire manager Bill Ackman, who takes an active and “paternalistic” approach towards his investments. “Ackman has proved his acumen over many years,” but the firm remains relatively unknown in London. With the shares trading on a 34% discount to the trust’s net asset value (NAV), they are a buy. 2,895p
Spire Healthcare
Investors Chronicle
NHS waiting times for cancer referrals and elective procedures are “at least ten times worse than they were in 2011”, while the number of hip-and-knee replacements delivered privately recently surpassed those done on the NHS for the first time. That is driving “record demand from self-pay patients” at the UK’s only listed privatehealthcare firm. The group has attracted takeover interest from international healthcare firms in recent years and it “isn’t fanciful to think that another bid will eventually materialise”. The shares aren’t cheap, but arguably merit their “premium” rating. 238p