Lloyds TSB (LSE: TSB) and Standard Life (LSE: SL) hit new highs again.
The FTSE 100 (UKX) is still kind of edging its way towards its most recent 52-week high of 5,989 points, up 12 points on the day so far to 5,794 points -- less than 200 points short. Though such short-term measures don't amount to much for Foolish investors, we should generally want to see a long-term rising trend.
And however long it takes for the index of UK blue chips to reach a new high, individual members of the various indices are hitting new levels every day. Here are three that have been doing just that this week...
Lloyds TSB
The bailed-out banks might not be everybody's idea of high-flying shares, but every company has to have a 52-week high at least once a year, and Lloyds TSB (LSE: LLOY) achieved that this week, ending yesterday on 39.5p before falling back a bit to the current price of 38.4p.
That's still way down on pre-crash prices, but the bank could seriously be on the up again. Forecasts for this year aren't terrific, but there's a near-doubling of earnings per share forecast for the year ending December 2013, which would drop the price-to-earnings ratio to 11 based on today's price, and we should be seeing the start of a return to reasonable dividends -- albeit only 1.2% for 2013.
Standard Life
Talking of financials on the way up, Standard Life (LSE: SL) hit a new 52-week high today of 278.7p, for a 50% gain on its year-low of 185p set last November. August's interim results pretty much confirmed current expectations, with a 15% increase in operating profit.
Those expectations put the insurance giant on for a full-year dividend payout of 5.2% by December, rising to 5.6% next year. We can be sure to expect higher prices than today's before too long.
Sage
Sage Group (LSE: SGE) today beat its previous high of 312p set in February, by hitting the heady heights of 321.9p before settling back to the current price of 315.6p. The software company did see its shares slump in between those two points, falling to 248p in June, but July's interim update confirmed the firm was still on to hit full-year expectations.
Those expectations suggest a pretty flat year to September, but we should still see a reasonable dividend of 3.4%, which should be more than adequately covered by earnings. And for 2013, forecasts suggest and 11% rise in earnings and a 3.7% dividend.
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> Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article.
