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A total of 32 FTSE 100 stocks booked a 40% or greater increase in share price over the last 12 months. There are dividends to add on top of that too. While the last year has been a good one, it’s a sign that London’s leading index can still deliver impressive levels of growth.
Today, I’ve been looking for other Footsie stocks that might pull the trick off again. I’ve perhaps unearthed a hidden gem in the insurance sector poised for a rip-roaring 2026.
Wind is blowing
My methodology here was simple: I wanted to find the stock with the best analyst ratings on the FTSE 100. While analysts aren’t fortune tellers, they are often a sign of which way the wind is blowing.
In this case, analysts are giving glowing ratings to insurance giant Prudential (LSE: PRU). Every single analyst covering the stock has it down as a Buy or an Outperform and it might be the most positively thought of stock on the index.
The consensus target for the next 12 months is a 21.7% increase, potentially turning £10k into around £12k. On the high end, we have a price target expecting a 44.1% increase, which would turn £10k into over £14k.
Does that sound a bit optimistic? Not if we look at the last year. The Prudential share price rose 56% in 2025, and a lot of analysts are expecting that momentum to keep going.
Impressive bumps
One possible fly in the ointment is a relatively meagre dividend yield. A chunky dividend payment means cash in the bank whatever the share price is doing. And the 1.60% yield from Prudential looks miserly indeed when compared with competitor Aviva, which is currently paying 5.65%.
While the payment as a percentage is not likely to set pulses racing, there is another way to look at this. For one, a lower yield often signals better growth prospects. A stock can command a premium if the share price has the potential to increase in value. That’s another reason to think the bullish analysts might be onto something.
But also, for long-term investors, we don’t want the highest possible yield in the first year or two of owning a stock. We want to see consistent increases over time, so we’re always earning more and more the longer we hold a stock.
Prudential’s track record looks pretty good on these terms – the company has increased the dividend for 22 years out of the last 25, managing impressive 10%-15% bumps on many of those occasions. Although the massive slash during the pandemic is worth pointing out too.
The unpredictable nature of markets and indeed the world in general means all predictions need to be taken with a rather large grain of salt. But as far as attractive-looking FTSE 100 stocks go, I think Prudential could be one for investors to consider.
