3 UK shares the pros are buying right now!

There are plenty of market-beating UK shares for investors to discover in 2025. And it seems the analyst team at Barclays Capital has its eyes set on three British businesses in particular.

Each operates in its own respective industry, including energy, pharmaceuticals, and mining. And after a quick glance at institutional forecasts, all three seem to be sitting on substantial upward potential. So, should investors be considering these businesses for their own portfolios?

Barclay’s highest-conviction ideas

Among all the British stocks, Barclays Capital has recommended, the three that have stood out are Shell (LSE:SHEL), AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN), and Anglo American (LSE:AAL).

Let’s start with the oil & gas giant. Barclay’s analyst Lydia Rainforth reiterated her strong conviction in April, citing the group’s impressive shareholder rewards scheme. The firm is expected to boost dividends by 10% to 20% as early as 2026, with upstream production potentially hitting three million barrels of oil equivalents by 2029.

Despite some scepticism surrounding Shell’s ability to boost product volumes, Barclays has a 3,800p price target for the Shell share price – approximately 53% higher than current prices.

Moving over to the world of pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca is another business receiving some love from Barclays analysts. Emily Field issued a Buy rating with a 14,000p price target just under a month ago. It followed a series of regulatory approvals and further positive clinical trial results in the first quarter of 2025. And with management reiterating its $80bn revenue target by 2030, Field’s conviction for a 30% jump certainly makes a lot of sense.

Lastly, we have Anglo American. Despite many other analysts like Berenberg Bank and RBC Capital Markets recently issuing Sell reports, Barclays has retained its conviction behind this business. It seems its analysts were impressed with the progress Anglo has been making in its cost-cutting efforts, as well as the copper and iron ore segments. And while the price target was lowered from 3,000p to 2,650p, that still represents a potential 24% gain over the next 12 months.

Are these good stock picks?

Looking again at Shell, the firm has and will always continue to be sensitive to oil prices while it remains a fossil fuel energy enterprise. Even with a strong conviction in the business, Barclays is projecting that oil prices could suffer following the OPEC+ shift in production strategy, as well as expected frontloading courtesy of trade tariffs.

Tariffs aren’t expected to be as big an issue for AstraZeneca. However, the biotech giant is facing its own set of headaches in China, one of its core growth markets. The firm is facing multi-million-dollar fines relating to suspected unpaid import taxes on its drugs. While that’s not likely to be catastrophic, regulatory disruptions in China could trigger volatility, especially for a stock trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of almost 30.

Anglo American is also tackling its fair share of headaches with its ongoing restructuring. The group’s recent asset sales and cost-cutting measures are expected to deliver long-term value. But in the short term, it’s creating uncertainty, which will only be exacerbated by operational challenges in Peru.

Digging through each of the investment theses, the analysts have made compelling arguments for why each business is among their favourite picks right now. However, none are particularly tempting for my portfolio, especially since I think there are far more compelling investment opportunities among other UK shares.

The post 3 UK shares the pros are buying right now! appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

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Zaven Boyrazian has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has recommended AstraZeneca Plc. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.