These three names, from three different sectors of the London exchange, are strengthening their recent gains, writes Alan Oscroft of The Motley Fool UK.
The FTSE-100 set a new high of 6,184 points on Tuesday, and is just a point below that at 6,183 at the time of writing. That takes the FTSE's record to 15 consecutive days above 6,000 and nine days above the 6,100 level. First day above 6,200? I wouldn't bet against it happening this week.
When the FTSE is hitting new highs almost daily, it's no real surprise that individual shares are doing the same thing. Here are three constituents of the FTSE indices that reached new closing highs yesterday.
Brewin Dolphin
Shares in investment manager
Brewin Dolphin Holdings (London: BRW)
hit a new closing high recently of 222p, up 50% over the last 12 months,
illustrating again how the financial sector has come bouncing back.
Forecasts are fairly modest for the year to September 2013, putting the shares on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 16, which is a bit above the long-term FTSE average of around 14. But 2014 forecasts suggest earnings growth of over 15%, dropping the P/E to 13.
Forecasts that far out need to be treated with caution, of course, but it is indicative of renewed longer-term optimism for financial stocks. There are also dividend yields expected of 3.5% and better.
Telford Homes
The latest of the homebuilders to hit a new
52-week closing high, Telford Homes (London: TEF)
finished Monday at 212p. That means the share price of Telford, which
specializes in London residences, has more than doubled in a year.
Interim results released at the end of November were strong, though there is a fall in earnings expected for the full year to March, putting the shares on a P/E of 17.5. But 2014 forecasts for a 50% rise in earnings drop that right down to 11.5.
Devro
A maker of collagen-based and other casings for the
food and cosmetics industries, Devro (London: DVO)
is the last of our three to achieve a new 52-week high, reaching 341p. That
takes the shares up nearly 30% over the year, following a number of years of
steady earnings growth.
There's a pretty flat year to December 2012 expected, but forecasts suggest a return to steady growth for this year and next. Full-year dividends for 2012 and the next two years are expected in the 2.5% to 3% range.
