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In a new year, when personal finances are in focus, investors are often hunting shares to buy for their portfolios. This makes sense as picking individual stocks can be very rewarding.
Here are three companies to consider investing in.
Massive dividends
UK investors love high-yield dividend stocks so let’s start with one of these, M&G (LSE: MNG). It’s a FTSE 100 savings and investment company that has been around for a long time.
This isn’t the most exciting company in the world. But it’s a reliable dividend payer, having rewarded investors with income every year since 2020, shortly after it was split off from Prudential.
Currently, the yield here is very attractive. With analysts expecting a payout of 21.4p per share for the 2026 financial year, it’s around 7.5%.
Forecasts can be off the mark, of course. But I think there’s a decent chance the payout will be close to that prediction as the company is performing well at the moment and the payout for 2024 was 20.1p per share.
It’s worth noting that a meltdown in the financial markets is a risk here – this could impact asset values and profits. With the shares trading on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of around 10 and having recently broken out of a five-year sideways trading pattern, however, I reckon they’re worth a look.
Huge growth potential
Of course, some investors (like myself) are looking for growth instead of income. So, let’s zoom in on this area of the market.
One UK-listed stock I like here and believe is worth considering is Wise (LSE: WISE). It’s a leading international money transfer company.
This company is growing at an impressive rate right now. For the year ending 31 March 2026, revenue is expected to be approximately £1.8bn, up about 26% year on year.
It doesn’t look like this growth is fully reflected in the valuation though. Currently, the P/E ratio is only 25, which isn’t that high for such a stock.
In the long run, I see a ton of potential in this stock. Because this company is really scalable and so far it has really only scratched the surface in terms of capturing the global payments market.
That said, new payment technologies like stablecoins are a risk.
Growth and income
If an investor is seeking both growth and income, that’s an option too. One stock worth highlighting here is defence giant BAE Systems (LSE: BA.).
On the growth side, this company looks well placed to benefit from increased spending on defence from NATO members. In the years ahead, these countries are expected to spend significantly more on things like ammunition, combat vehicles, and cybersecurity solutions.
Meanwhile, on the income side, there’s a dividend yield of nearly 2.5%. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s higher than the interest rates most high-interest UK savings accounts are paying by the end of 2026.
Now, a longed-for sudden end to the geopolitical conflict taking place in the world today is a risk tot he stock. This could hit sentiment towards it and mean a slowdown in orders.
I like defence as a long-term theme, however, so I reckon BAE is worth a look, especially as the average price target is about 20% higher than the current share price.
