The Morningstar UK Large-Mid Cap Index rose 25.43% in 2025 amid a rally in the basic materials sector. The large-mid index tracks the performance of the top 90% of the UK investable universe by market cap, and each year we screen from among the stocks in this index to find the best- and worst-performing companies. Data in this article is sourced from Morningstar Direct.
The Best-Performing Stocks of 2025
- Fresnillo FRES
- Zegona Communications ZEG
- Airtel Africa AAF
- Endeavour Mining EDV
- Babcock International Group BAB
The Worst-Performing Stocks of 2025
Metrics for the Best-Performing StocksFresnillo FRES
- Sector: Basic Materials
- Industry: Other Precious Metals & Mining
- Economic Moat: Not Rated
Fresnillo jumped 26.58% in December, leaving the stock up 468.44% for the past year. The company’s stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 1 star.
Zegona Communications ZEG
- Sector: Communication Services
- Industry: Telecom Services
- Economic Moat: Not Rated
Zegona Communications gained 7.45% in December, leaving shares up 275.29% for the past year. Zegona Communications has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.
Airtel Africa AAF
- Sector: Communication Services
- Industry: Telecom Services
- Economic Moat: Not Rated
Airtel Africa climbed 14.29% in December, leaving the stock up 220.30% for the past year. The company’s stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 2 stars.
Endeavour Mining EDV
- Sector: Basic Materials
- Industry: Gold
- Economic Moat: Not Rated
Endeavour Mining jumped 10.95% in December, leaving the stock up 183.20% for the past year. The company’s stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 2 stars.
Babcock International Group BAB
- Sector: Industrials
- Industry: Engineering & Construction
- Economic Moat: Narrow
Babcock International Group gained 9.95% in December, leaving shares up 150.02% for the past year. Babcock International Group has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.
Metrics for the Worst-Performing StocksWPP WPP
- Sector: Communication Services
- Industry: Advertising Agencies
- Economic Moat: None
WPP jumped 11.09% in December, but was still down 56.50% over the past year. Shares were 59.65% below their last high on Jan. 2, 2025. The company’s stock has a Morningstar Rating of 4 stars, trading at a 33% discount to its fair value estimate of £5.05.
B&M Stores BME
- Sector: Consumer Defensive
- Industry: Discount Stores
- Economic Moat: Not Rated
B&M Stores decreased 0.06% in December, leaving shares down 48.98% for the past year. Stocks in the company were 55.40% below the last high on Jan. 6, 2025. B&M Stores has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.
Bunzl BNZL
- Sector: Consumer Defensive
- Industry: Food Distribution
- Economic Moat: Narrow
Bunzl fell 4.07% in December, leaving the stock down 35.03% for the past year. Shares were 40.48% below their last high on Feb. 13, 2025. The company’s stock has a Morningstar Rating of 4 stars, trading at a 37% discount to its fair value estimate of £32.80.
Diageo DGE
- Sector: Consumer Defensive
- Industry: Beverages – Wineries & Distilleries
- Economic Moat: Wide
Diageo fell 7.61% in December, leaving the stock down 34.17% for the past year. Shares were 37.55% lower than their last high on Jan. 9, 2025. The company’s stock has a Morningstar Rating of 4 stars and trades at a 29% discount to the fair value estimate of £22.60.
The Unite Group UTG
- Sector: Real Estate
- Industry: REIT – Diversified
- Economic Moat: Not Rated
Unite Group rose 5.97% in December, but was still down 27.34% over the past year. Shares were 36.82% below their last high on Feb. 14, 2025. The company’s stock has a quantitative Morningstar Rating of 3 stars.
Companies that are not formally covered by a Morningstar analyst are statistically matched to analyst-rated companies, allowing our models to calculate a quantitative star rating.
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