After an incredible 97% rise is this FTSE star still my best stock to buy today?

Almost a year ago (26 November 2023), I announced which UK company I thought was the best share to buy at the start of the year. It was FTSE 100 an information and analytics company RELX (LSE: REL).

There were many things to like about RELX. It was a bone fide A UK tech star, overdue Nasdaq since the beginning of the Millennium, it is growing almost fivefold.

It also looked set to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, as it used new technologies to enrich its proprietary data.

RELX, didn’t do it

It’s actually been sitting on my shopping list since June of last year but, stupidly, I never got around to buying it.

At the time, the price stood at 2,646p. By last November, it had risen 15% to 3,055p. Today, I would have to pay 3,719p per share. That’s up another 21.7% over the year. Over five years, RELX’s price has increased by 97.98%. So I’m still kicking myself.

So what stopped me from buying RELX? It always looked very expensive, trading at around 30 times earnings. At the time, I was in the misery of the FTSE 100, picking up cheap shares at valuations close to five or six times earnings. But RELX taught me that high yields and low price-to-earnings ratios aren’t everything.

Its shares are still expensive today, trading at 32.65 times earnings with a modest trailing yield of 1.54%. That’s better than it looks, because the board has a strong track record of budget growth. In July, it raised interim dividends by 7%, for example.

The trade review on 24 October reported that revenue grew by 7% in the first nine months of the financial year, with positive momentum across the group. The board expects another year of strong underlying profit and adjusted operating profit growth.

I should buy this growth stock in December

On November 8, JP Morgan Cazenove raised its price target for RELX shares from 4,200p to 4,550p, as its Legal and STM (science, technology and medical) businesses look set to enjoy AI-powered growth.

In total, 11 analysts follow RELX and provide a one-year low share price forecast of 4,023p. That’s up 7.97% from today. JP Morgan’s is one of the latest and suggests growth of 22.2%.

At the moment, we don’t know for sure if AI will prove to be a big game changer. Anyone who has played with the chatGPT software has found that it has limitations, and cannot be relied upon for 100% accuracy. Anywhere nearby.

In addition, its wealth is still tied to the economic cycle. These are uncertain times as inflation appears strong and sales may take a hit if sectors such as legal or financial services struggle.

But with RELX growing so much, including acquisitions, and the launch of a common stock buyback I think it looks set for 2025 as well.

Now this time I plan to do that and buy it. If it’s not the best FTSE 100 share to buy today, it’s far from it.