Back on January 4 2019 I wrote this article naming 10 shares investors should consider buying for 2019 as the turn of a calendar year is always a popular time for predictions and forecasts.
As we're now halfway through the calendar year I thought it worth looking at how my tips are performing compared to the broader S&P/ ASX200 (ASX: XJO) that has returned 18.5% since January 4 2019.
Below is a list of the shares as named in the order of the original article. Please note the returns do not include dividend payments that in some cases would add materially to the total return.
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) is up around 14.1% since it traded for $187.92 on January 4 2019 to $214.46 this morning. The same reasons for liking it back then remain today; including a lower Australian dollar, its earnings moat and forecast for another strong year of double digit profit growth.
Dicker Data Ltd (ASX: DDR) shares sold for $2.86 on 14.4x annualised earnings with a 6.3% yield plus franking credits on January 4, 2019. The stock is up 80% plus dividends since then to $5.12 today.
REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) is a business not many people were tipping at the start of 2019 as Australia's property price falls accelerated to their highest rates. However, buying quality shares when sentiment around them is down is often a good investment strategy. The stock is up 31% from $73.94 to $96.67 this morning.
Hansen Technologies Limited (ASX: HSN) is the software billing business that completed a $166m+ acquisition of Sigma in May 2019. It's an acquisitive founder led business and the stock is up 14% over the period from $3.41 to $3.88 today.
Reliance Worldwide Corp (ASX: RWC) is the founder-led plumbing parts business that has let me down with a downgrade in 2019. The stock is down 22% to $3.53 today.
TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM) had its proposed merger with Vodafone Australia blocked by the ACCC in May 2019. As a result the stock has edged just 1% higher to $6.47 over the year.
Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) is the online accounting software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform tracking to profitability after another strong half year result. The stock is up 48% from $40.90 to $60.67 today.
Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA) is another SaaS business in the aerial mapping space that is up 159% from $1.50 to $3.88 today thanks to improved sentiment and the growth of its US business.
Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1) is the footwear retailer still suffering from weak sentiment around consumer shares and after its chairman sold a large number of shares. However, the stock is still up 22% to $1.38 from $1.13 back in January.
Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) is the buy-now-pay-later business that has climbed 140% from $11.87 to a record high $28.51 today. Its U.S. growth was no secret back in January 2019, although it took the market a while to wake up to it.
Foolish takeaway
As we can see my annual stock tips look likely to absolutely thump the market again in 2019 with an average return of 48.7% (excluding dividends). The shares I mentioned in 2018 and 2017 in similar articles also thumped the market from memory.
Investing is not rocket science and it's worth noting 6 of the 10 companies above are founder led and generally I'd advise against having less than 60% of an ASX investment portfolio in non founder-led companies. I have covered the big benefits of buying founder led companies in a few other articles recently.
I remain reasonably bullish on the outlook for all of these companies, with the exception of TPG that unfortunately is facing a lot of risk due to the ACCC's decision to block its merger with Vodafone Australia. As such I wouldn't buy this stock until its case is resolved in court.
Later on today or next week, I'll name 10 shares I expect could outperform the market in FY 2020.
