These 3 stunning UK stocks have doubled my money in 18 months. Time to bank the profit?

I hold around 20 UK stocks in my self-invested personal pension (SIPP), but three stand head and shoulders above the rest.

Coincidentally, I bought all three in November 2023, and they’ve all hit the magic 100% mark in the Gain/Loss column of my online SIPP. What a month that was!

This is brilliant and I love ‘em but it does leave me facing a problem. They’ve all failed to kick on since hitting that milestone.

A secondary issue is that one of them is now worth almost 9% of my entire SIPP, so I’m heavily exposed to its fortunes.

3i Group flies

That stock is 3i Group (LSE: III). Shares in the FTSE 100-listed private equity manager have rocketed 357% in five years, and continue to fly, up 39% in 12 months.

Established in 1945, 3i has a brilliant track record of buying companies, building them up, pocketing dividends then selling them at a profit.

It has a huge success on its hands in discount retailer Action, which has grown so fast it now makes up more than 75% of 3i’s total £23.6bn portfolio.

Now I’m worried 3i may be a little too Action-packed. I’m not sure what its exit strategy is or whether it even wants one.

Another issue is that shares in the investment trust are trading at a massive 69% premium to their underlying net value.

I’m still sitting on a 97% gain, and common sense suggests I should at the very least reduce my exposure. Trouble is, it’s hard to kiss success goodbye.

Costain is cheaper

I’m a bit less concerned about the second double-my-money stock, construction specialist Costain Group.

Costain has also idled since hitting the 100% mark but still looks cheap, with a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just 8.3.

There’s lots to like here. Its forward work position, a key industry measure, jumped £1.5bn to a record £5.4bn in 2024. The shares are up 44% in the last 12 months.

Construction can be a volatile sector, so that’s a concern. Also, our cash-strapped government may struggle to fund infrastructure development.

However, Costain looks solid, with net cash of £180m against a £330m market cap. With its forward work piling up, I’d rather buy more than sell.

Just Group stumbles

FTSE 250 insurer Just Group (LSE: JUST) has also been going gangbusters, up 42% over the last year.

However, the shares have fallen 12% in the last three months, after full-year results published on 7 March fell well short of estimates.

Adjusted pre-tax profit fell by 7.3% to reach £482m, mostly due to lower non-operating items. Underlying operating profit climbed 34% to £504m and group chief David Richardson remains upbeat.

He noted that the company had more than doubled profits in just three years, a process supposed to take five. Just still looks incredibly cheap with a P/E of just 4.1. The trailing yield is a low 1.68%, but the dividend policy is progressive, with a 20% hike in 2024.

I bought for the long-term, and since I hold a modest stake, I’m not selling. I might even take advantage of the recent dip. Providing I can bring myself to trim my position in 3i.

The post These 3 stunning UK stocks have doubled my money in 18 months. Time to bank the profit? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Should you buy Costain Group Plc shares today?

Before you decide, please take a moment to review this first.

Because my colleague Mark Rogers – The Motley Fool UK’s Director of Investing – has released this special report.

It’s called ‘5 Stocks for Trying to Build Wealth After 50’.

And it’s yours, free.

Of course, the decade ahead looks hazardous. What with inflation recently hitting 40-year highs, a ‘cost of living crisis’ and threat of a new Cold War, knowing where to invest has never been trickier.

And yet, despite the UK stock market recently hitting a new all-time high, Mark and his team think many shares still trade at a substantial discount, offering savvy investors plenty of potential opportunities to strike.

That’s why now could be an ideal time to secure this valuable investment research.

Mark’s ‘Foolish’ analysts have scoured the markets low and high.

This special report reveals 5 of his favourite long-term ‘Buys’.

Please, don’t make any big decisions before seeing them.

Claim your free copy now

More reading

Harvey Jones has positions in 3i Group Plc, Costain Group Plc, and Just Group Plc. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. 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.