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Summary
- London stock markets have been on a wild ride in the last one year
- Of the FTSE 100 stalwarts, Royal Mail stands as the biggest gainers
- While, some blue-chip shares are down up to 30% in the last one year.
London stock markets have been on a wild ride in the last one year with most of the large-cap stocks bouncing back sharply from the pandemic lows, while some of the blue-chip shares are still trading at steep discounts from their respective trailing twelve month (TTM) highs.
Day traders, domestic investors, veteran market participants have thoroughly remained cautious about investments into market-tradable assets due to the persisting uncertainty on the back of continuously evolving Covid-19 pandemic and the unending threat of mutating variants.
Of the major blue-chip stalwarts, Royal Mail Group Plc (LON:RMG) has emerged as the biggest gainers among the pack of the 101-constituent cluster of the benchmark FTSE 100. According to the historical data available with the London Stock Exchange, the shares of Royal Mail have nearly tripled the shareholders’ wealth in the last one year, contributing substantially to the upsurge of the headline index.
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While the pandemic continues to handhold the uncertainty barometer, it is advised that the investors should practice patience and adequate due diligence before allocating a sizable amount of money on any asset.
As market participants remain in a lookout for undervalued stocks, we take a look at three blue-chip shares that are down up to 30% in the last one year. This provides a unique opportunity to recognise multifold gains in the upcoming months as businesses are likely to expand following the removal of lockdown restrictions, effectively allowing the enterprises to operate at a much larger scale in the pandemic era for the first time.
Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc (LON: RKT)
Shares of Reckitt Benckiser Group, the Slough-headquartered consumer goods major, have fallen more than 18% in the last one year following the overall subduedness in commercial operations on the back of Covid-19. Irrespective of the flourishing sales of consumer-oriented hygiene products during the pandemic era, the company struggled to maintain the sales volume of the offerings under the health and nutrition division.
The stock last closed at GBX 6,485, with a year-to-date (YTD) loss of around 5% even after a 11% appreciation during the one-and-half-month period between February and April 2021.
Fresnillo PLc (LON: FRES)
Shares of the Mexico City-based metals and mining corporation are no exception to the pandemic troubles. The stock of Fresnillo has cracked more than 28% in the last 12 months, making it the worst performing mining company among the 101 stocks of FTSE 100. The present calendar year, touted as the year of recovery, has not been able to lift up the prospects for the company. The shares stand with a YTD loss of a little over 37%.
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Homeserve Plc (LON:HSV)
Shares of Homeserve, the Walsall-headquartered home repairs and improvement services provider, have collapsed approximately 30% in the corresponding period. The stock entered 2021 on a losing foot, extending the losses to nearly 12.5% in the six-and-half months so far. During the pandemic-steered stock market crash, Homeserve shares fell close to 35% touching a 52-week low below GBX 900 on 20 March 2020.
Surprisingly, the stock staged a sharp comeback in the next three-and-half months, registering a rise of 59% to GBX 1,365 (7 August 2020) from GBX 858.50 apiece between March and August 2020.
