BT (LSE: BT.A), Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) and Home Retail (LSE: HOME) are all flying.
The FTSE 100 (UKX) is falling back from its recent rise, losing 22 points to 5,899, and dropping further from its 52-week high of 5,989 points. After the index reached a nine-month high last week before falling back a little on Friday, some will be disappointed. But Fools shouldn't care too much about things like this, and should instead concentrate on good, long-term companies.
Speaking of which, some of the UK's best known companies have been reaching for the sky in recent months. Here are three trading close to their 52-week peaks:
BT
BT Group (LSE: BT-A) shares have been having a very good time recently, powering up to a 52-week high of 242p, and today are just a shade short of that on 237p. That's a rise of more than a quarter over the past 12 months.
Forecasts for this year and next are strong, with an earnings per share rise of over a third predicted by City analysts, and there's a dividend yield of around 4% on the cards. Despite the rise, the shares are only on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 9.6.
Lloyds
Shares in bailed-out Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY) have had a year that few were expecting, doubling to reach a 52-week of 47p. Although Lloyds, along with Royal Bank of Scotland suffered massive losses during the crisis, both are expected to be in profit this year, and both have enjoyed share price recoveries -- RBS is up over 50%.
Lloyds is, in fact, predicted to turn in a profit of £1.5 billion, rising to £2.6 billion for 2013. That 2013 figure puts the shares on a forward P/E of around 12, so if you think we're in for a few years of rising profits, that might make an investment look attractive.
Home Retail
After halting the slump at Argos and starting a promising-looking turnaround, Home Retail (LSE: HOME) has seen its shares respond well, and at 129p they're trading very close to their 52-week high of 131p.
With the transition of Argos to a multi-channel retailer starting off positive, forecasts suggest earnings will be bottoming out in the current year to March, and there's a return to growth penciled in for the following year.
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> Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article.
