The Christmas period is a great time to spend with the family, go on holidays and catch up on some of the things you just don't seem to have time for during the year.
It's also a great time for everything investing. As companies wind-down their operations, news on the financial front begins to wane, giving you the perfect opportunity to reassess your portfolio's situation and get ready for the year ahead.
One of the most important tasks is to refresh your watchlist and ensure it's current and reflects the best possible opportunities for your future wealth. While not all of the companies on this list present as compelling buys right now, they are certainly worth watching in case your investment thesis on them strengthens, or if they drop to a more attractive price.
Although it might sound easy, constructing an effective watchlist can be a difficult task and usually requires a significant level of research to ensure you know what you're actually watching. So to save you the hassle, I've put together a list of five companies that are well worth keeping a close eye on in 2015.
No doubt you'll have heard of some of them (they might even be on your watchlist already), but others could be completely new to you…
- Collection House Limited (ASX: CLH), a debt collection agency, offers everything an investor could ask for – a strong and dedicated management team; an excellent track record for revenue and earnings growth; generous dividend payments (fully franked) and plenty of room left to run in the coming years. At $2.09 per share, the stock trades on a trailing P/E ratio of just 14.4x and offers a 3.8% fully franked dividend.
- BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP), the world's largest miner, has been smashed this year as a result of the plunging iron ore price. While it seems the best course of action would be to avoid this stock until the high level of volatility subsides, BHP's shares could certainly fall to a price too good to ignore at some point in 2015. Given BHP's high-quality nature, this is certainly a stock to add to your watchlist if it's not on there already.
- Veda Group Ltd (ASX: VED), Australia's leading data analytics business, is shaping up for a strong 2015. Although the stock might not appear cheap – trading at $2.32 on a projected P/E ratio of 25.2x – it has outstanding growth prospects that should drive the stock price much higher over the coming years. It's also expected to pay a 6.1 cent dividend in FY15, putting it on an indicative yield of 2.6% which I also expect to grow in the future.
- Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) shareholders have suffered over the last six months. The stock is down 15.2% since peaking in April – heavily underperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) in that time – with investors perhaps becoming concerned about the company's growth prospects. But Woolworths has proven itself as a worthy stock over the last two decades, and investors could look to capitalise on this opportunity – particularly with the stock offering a 4.2% fully franked yield.
- Shine Corporate Ltd (ASX: SHJ) is an up-and-coming litigation firm which specialises in personal injury cases. Shine has already delivered fantastic gains for shareholders who got in early, but could certainly continue to soar as it ventures into new practice areas and expands geographically. The shares are currently changing hands for $2.67 and offer a 1.3% dividend.
