Could these FTSE 100 giants boost your portfolio higher?

FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE: UKX) stocks can provide great returns for investors. Through income and growth the stocks can be a stable way to get rich slowly. 

Commodity giant

Glencore (LSE: GLEN) has been under the spotlight for over a year now. Commodity prices across the board fell sharply, which dragged the share price of Glencore down to all-time lows. However, since then the company has done a lot counter criticism of its business and it has come a long way since City analysts were saying it could go to zero. Since 1 January the share price has climbed 125% and analysts are now tagging the stock with price targets over 250p. The company has looked at the issue of its debt pile and divested a number of assets to pay off debt. I believe that the major mining company could be a good way to ride strengthening commodity prices that many expect in the next few years. The stock is coming from a very low price so it could see an explosive price rise soon. 

Defensive pharma

GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) is a favorite of UK income fund managers and quite rightly so. It holds great defensive qualities and I believe it has less risk than its FTSE 100 peer AstraZeneca. Glaxo shares are currently yielding over 4%, which is a decent income considering we live in a world of low interest rates. For income investors this looks like a top stock to own for its dividend and growth potential. The pipeline of new drugs that Glaxo has is very encouraging and the company believes there could be multiple blockbuster drugs on the way. This pipeline will add to profitability for the firm. While currently the shares are trading on 17 times forward price-to-earnings, Glaxo looks set to reap the rewards of its R&D success and I think the shares look cheap. 

UK housebuilding play

Persimmon (LSE: PSN) is about to become a great income stock due to the huge dividend scheme the company is about to begin. The shares are on a yield of over 5% and have nearly recovered since the Brexit vote shock. The UK has a fundamental housing shortage, which was addressed by Chancellor Philip Hammond this week. When setting out his new £5bn housing fund he said “my message today is clear: it’s time to get building”. This fund is for small businesses to build 25,000 homes by 2020 and 225,000 in the longer term. This is a clear indication that the housebuilding sector in the UK has a lot of work to do. Persimmon is a great way to play housebuilding in the UK and receive some income at the same time. 

I believe that these three giants will provide investors with good capital growth over the next few years and should outperform the wider market. In the case of Glaxo and Persimmon, investors will receive some chunky dividend payouts too.