Top stocks of FY 2012

We highlight some of the best performing top 200 stocks that helped the market up 22% in FY 2012.

Owen Raszkiewicz

Owen Raszkiewicz is a Motley Fool Contributor. Owen has been a Contributor since 2013, having also spent time as a Fool writer/analyst. He also worked as an Investment Analyst at Zenith Investment Partners, Australia's top research house specialising in managed funds. Owen has appeared on Channel 10's The Project and was invited on the BBC. He holds a Masters of Applied Finance, Masters of Financial Planning, Bachelor of Technology, Advanced Diploma of Financial Services and Diploma of Mortgage Broking Management. In addition, Owen has passed Level 1 of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Program. He has taken the Banking + Finance Oath (BFO). When he is not writing, Owen is Managing Director of Rask Finance, an Australian financial education company. You can email him: [email protected].

Published July 1, 2013 12:34 pm AEST

In the past 12 months some of the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) (^AXJO) stocks have performed better than others and made some great returns, with dividends as well. Here are a number of stocks you could have bought in the past year that would have made you smile all the way to the bank.

Speaking of which, the big banks have made stellar returns on the back on modest profit increases in the past year. As investors searched for dividends when interest rates began to drop, shareholders were lapping up huge returns which included juicy dividends. Since the beginning of the financial year, the Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA) has made a 38% return and paid a fully franked dividend of approximately 5%.

Retail giant Wesfarmers (ASX: WES) has also produced good results for investors. Paying solid dividends along the way, the company has returned over 40% to investors and continues to have a healthy outlook on the future as it competes with other rivals who are less diversified. Wesfarmers is a favourite of SMSFs because it ticks all the boxes for income, growth and security.

With Australia's internet speed about the take a huge leap forward, Telstra's (ASX: TLS) legendary dividend made investors push the share price higher and higher before taking an inevitable drop. Even still, if you bought the shares a year ago, you'd be sitting on a 40% return plus dividends.

Foolish takeaway

Long-term investing is the best way to accumulate wealth and protect your portfolio from seasonal fluctuations in stock markets. However, if you think that ship has sailed and investing in great opportunities has passed you by, think again, there are still plenty of great investments still available on the market. Finding that great investment could be just around the corner and with many expecting the ASX to close the year around 5,300, it could be easier than you think.

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Motley Fool contributor Owen Raszkiewicz does not have a financial interest in any of the mentioned companies.

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