I by no means thought there may very well be something such factor as the right UK inventory. There are lots I like, after all. One or two I’m fairly devoted too. However perfection? That’s an enormous ask. Each inventory has its dangers. No firm weapons it endlessly. But one FTSE 100 inventory comes fairly shut.

Personal fairness specialist Intermediate Capital Group (LSE: ICG) flies beneath the radar. I’ve by no means seen it seem within the prime 10 most traded firms. Search engine site visitors is comparatively mild. My fellow Fools solely not often delve into its mysteries. The primary time I got here throughout it was on 13 December 2022, after I was dazzled.

I raved about its “unmissable 6.45% yield”, robust steadiness sheet with £1.3bn of liquidity, and its means to lift £6bn of funding each six months.

High FTSE 100 alternative

With a valuation of simply 6.4 instances earnings, I concluded it supplied “strong share price growth prospects as well”. And the way proper I used to be. On the time, its shares had been buying and selling at 1,150p. I pledged to purchase them after Christmas however stupidly didn’t. Right now, I’d must pay 2,394p. That’s greater than twice as a lot. Over one 12 months, they’re up 71.98%, in opposition to development of 10.54% on the index as a complete.

Now I’ve discovered yet another factor to love in regards to the inventory. I used to be perusing the highest 10 holdings within the SPDR S&P UK Dividend Aristocrats UCITS ETF and there it was, proper on the prime.

The ETF tracks UK firms whose dividends have elevated for not less than seven consecutive years, making ICG a real dividend aristocrat. In actual fact, its observe file of dividend will increase goes again greater than a decade.

Sadly, I’ve needed to admire Intermediate Capital Group’s qualities from a distance. I’ll additionally confess that no share is ideal. Personal fairness income could be lumpy, relying on purchases and disposals. Its share price has grown over the long run however with loads of peaks and troughs alongside the way in which. It’s at a peak right now. A trough may simply comply with.

Revenue hero

As a world different asset supervisor, its job is to provide capital to rising companies. By rights, it must be discovering the going robust, with rates of interest anticipated to remain greater for longer. I maintain studying that non-public fairness’s heading for a troublesome time, however Intermediate Capital Group has bucked that development, to date.

On Tuesday, it reported a walloping 132% enhance in group revenue earlier than tax to £258.1m. Efficiency charge earnings skyrocketed 276% to £73.7m. And that’s regardless of a “challenging environment”, with buyout volumes falling for the second 12 months in a row. Fund elevating is holding up properly although.

So ought to I purchase it right now? The trailing yield isn’t big, regardless of all these dividend hikes, at 3.38%. It’s properly lined 2.1 instances although. Inevitably, the inventory isn’t as low cost because it was in December 2022, buying and selling at 14.32 instances earnings. That also seems to be good worth to me although.

As a rule, I hate shopping for shares after a powerful run, as I really feel like I’ve missed out on the perfect bits. However guidelines are made to be damaged. I want this in my portfolio. Possibly it’s not excellent, however I nonetheless assume it’s an unmissable purchase.