3 UK stocks I think are offering today what Warren Buffett is looking at!

Legendary investor Warren Buffett is no longer running the game Berkshire Hathaway (even though he is sitting on a chair).

But I think there is still a lot for the young private investor to learn from the billionaire Sage of Omaha’s wisdom when hunting for stocks to buy.

Here are three UK stocks that I think exemplify the kinds of characteristics that Warren Buffett often says he looks for in stocks to buy.

Diageo

First, a share that Warren Buffett actually bought (and later sold) in the past, when he traded under the name Guinness.

Today the black stuff is still an important brand in his portfolio of premium drinks Diageo (LSE: DGE). It also owns premium spirits brands.

Warren Buffett likes well-established brands that can command a price premium (he is a long-term shareholder Coca-Cola).

He also likes the fact that consumer goods products can build customer loyalty, keeping people coming back year after year.

But while Diageo is hugely profitable, there is a risk that changing drinking habits could hurt sales revenue.

That was one of the reasons for Warren Buffett’s investment Kraft Heinz he is doing wrong on many other deals he has made: consumers are increasingly losing their taste for processed foods. There is a risk that the same trend could harm the sale of alcohol.

However, I have Diageo shares with no plans to sell. Like Warren Buffett, I aim to be a long-term investor.

JD Wetherspoon

Sticking to alcohol – although food and accommodation is also part of your business – I think JD Wetherspoon (LSE: JDW) is a share investors should consider.

Warren Buffett likes a business to have what he calls “the canal”: a competitive advantage that sets them apart from their competitors. Spoons has something else in my opinion: a national chain of individually named bars, benefiting from economies of scale. Its value proposition to drinkers is unrivaled on a national scale.

While falling alcohol sales are hurting Diageo, the wider supply of Spoons means it remains in growth mode.

The risk I see, he often mentions, is that rising national insurance, alcohol tax, and wage costs are eating away at already shrinking profit margins.

However, with its strong reputation and large customer base, I see a lot to like about the business.

Bunzl

20 years ago, Berkshire, under Warren Buffett, bought McLane from it Walmart. Maclane is a grocery and food service distributor, now owned by Berkshire.

Like grocery sales, industrial operations tend to be high volume but with low profit margins. So efficiency and economy of scale are important.

That is also true for an international shipping company in the UK Bunzl (LSE: BNZL).

Bunzl sells plastic spoons, cups, take-out boxes, paper towels, liquid soap, and thousands of other small but important products that food service operators need to keep running.

Such a business benefits from continuous demand throughout the economic cycle. People still need to eat and the cleaning continues.

Another thing I like is Bunzl’s annual dividend increases. Warren Buffett’s stake in Coca-Cola showed how decades of annual dividend growth can add up.

Bunzl’s share price is down 37% for the year. Uneven performance in north America remains a risk.

But the company was talking about it and I recently bought more Bunzl shares.