William Hill plc (LON: WMH), Halma plc (LON: HLMA) and Topps Tiles Plc (LON: TPT) set new price records.
After 10 days finishing above 6,100, the FTSE 100 is set to close above 6,200 today, having reached yet another 52-week high of 6,222 points by early afternoon.
The index was lifted by rises across the mining sector, and by rumours of a possible sale of Vodafone's stake in Verizon, making the mobile communications giant the biggest riser in the FTSE 100 on the day.
In line with the market's recent bullish run, numerous companies in the various FTSE indices are also climbing to new heights every day. We look at three achieving new records today:
William Hill
William Hill (LSE: WMH) shares reached a new 52-week record of 365p today, before dropping back a little to 359p at the time of writing -- but still up 2.3p on the day. Over the past year, the share price has climbed by 60% as the whole sector has been recovering strongly.
October's third-quarter update told of strong progress, with net revenue up 9% and operating profit up 26%. Current expectations for the year to December 2012 suggest a 14% boost to earnings per share for the year, with a 3.2% dividend on the cards. The shares are valued, by those estimates, at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 13.
Halma
Shares in Halma (LSE: HLMA) are trading today above their highest 52-week close, at 464p, having gained more than 30% over the past 12 months. The industrial safety specialist has been enjoying double-digit growth in earnings per share over the past few years, and has also been steadily lifting its dividend. Price appreciation, however, has actually reduced the dividend yield to around 2.5%, with the shares having trebled since early 2009.
Forecasts for the next few years are slightly lower, with 7% earnings growth expected by City analysts, but dividends are set to continue their annual growth.
Topps Tiles
Topps Tiles (LSE: TPT) has had a great year, with its shares up more than 75% over the past 12 months, today exceeding their previous highest close to reach 55.7p. After years of falling earnings, the turnaround finally appears to be on the cards, with forecasts for the year to September 2013 indicating a 4% earnings growth, growing to 10% the following year.
That puts the shares on a forward P/E of a little over 10 for 2013, falling to 9.4 for 2014. There are also growing dividends expected with a yield of around 3%, which should be more than three times covered by earnings.
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> Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool has recommended shares in Vodafone.
