Persimmon plc (LON: PSN), AVEVA Group plc (LON: AVV) and Beazley PLC (LON: BEZ) are all on a roll.
The FTSE 100 has shrugged off the UK's loss of its AAA credit rating and is up 81 points to 6,373 at the time of writing, having closed last week on 6,291 -- below 6,300 for the first time in eight days. The index of top UK stocks has broken the 6,400 level once this year, on 20 February, but was unable to hang on to it.
But even if it's been nearly a week since the FSTE 100 last hit a new high, there are individual companies managing it. Here are three that are soaring:
Persimmon
Annual results sent Persimmon (LSE: PSN) shares to a new high of 932p in early trading, though the price has fallen back to 907p as I write. Underlying pre-tax profit at the Beginners' Portfolio member rose 52% to £225 million, from a 12% rise in annual revenue to £1.72 billion. Performance was boosted by a 6% rise in legal completions to 9,903 over the year, with an average selling price up 6% to £175,640.
Persimmon's share price is up around 45% over the past year, as the whole sector is well into recovery -- and there are four other housebuilders reporting this week.
Aveva
Engineering software specialist Aveva Group (LSE: AVV) shares climbed to a new 52-week high today of 2,329p after an interim update told us that "the Group has continued to perform well during the period with strong cash generation in the third quarter". Business in the oil & gas sector helped strengthen the firm's Engineering & Design Systems division, and the company also announced the acquisition of advanced visualisation software from Global Majic.
Aveva's shares are up more than 30% over the past 12 months, with forecasts suggesting an 18% rise in earnings per share for the year ending March 2013. But that does put the price on a lofty price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of over 30.
Beazley
Insurer Beazley (LSE: BEZ) opened on a new high of 219.6p today, before dropping back a little to 214p by late morning, and the shares are now up more than 40% over the past 12 months. The insurance sector as a whole has been recovering, and Beazley turning in a pre-tax profit of $250 million in 2012 after 2011's slump certainly helped.
There's a drop in earnings per share of 26% forecast for the year to December 2013, but insurance can be erratic year-on-year, and even with that fall the shares are still on a forward P/E of only 10, with a 3.5% dividend yield expected.
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> Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article.
