Why Ocado Group PLC, Quindell Portfolio PLC And Persimmon plc Should Lag The FTSE 100 Today

Ocado Group PLC (LON: OCDO), Quindell Portfolio PLC (LON: QPP) and Persimmon plc (LON: PSN) head down.

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The FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE) is still wobbly ahead of this week’s meetings of the Bank of England and the European Central Bank — it is 18 points down on 6,289 at the time of writing, having briefly perked up above yesterday’s close. It seems to be mainly the banks falling today, with the miners enjoying a bit of a respite.

Even with the FTSE down a bit, there are still shares doing worse. Here are three from the various indices that are slipping:

Ocado

The market appeared less than impressed by first-half figures from Ocado Group (LSE: OCDO) this morning, sending the online grocery’s shares down 5.9p (1.9%) to 306p. But against the big picture that’s not so bad, seeing as the price has quadrupled over the past 12 months.

Revenue over the six months grew by 15.6% to £356m, and Ocado made an adjusted pre-tax loss of £1m — though the firm’s statutory loss came in worse than that at £3.8m.

The main highlights during the period were the signing of a 25-year deal with Wm Morrison Supermarkets to help start up its online shopping, and the opening of Ocado’s second distribution centre.

Quindell

Shares in Quindell Portfolio (LSE: QPP) dipped 4.5% to 11.3p, though the only news appears to be related to the software specialist’s move from AIM to a main market listing — as part of the process, the firm has appointed Canaccord Genuity as joint broker and financial advisor.

Despite more than trebling in price by late last year, Quindell’s share price subsequent crashed back after rumours of short-trading were aired — the firm quickly denied them. Since then, we’ve seen a strong recovery, with the price now more than doubled since a year ago.

Persimmon

A trading update ahead of first-half results sent Persimmon (LSE: PSN) shares down 18p (1.5%) to 1,222p. The housebuilder, a constituent of the Fool’s Beginners’ Portfolio, has completed 5,022 new homes during the six-month period, up 7% from 4,712 at the same stage last year. An improvement in the availability of mortgages, assisted by the Government’s latest scheme, has helped boost visitor numbers by 13%.

Despite today’s fall, Persimmon has still seen its share price more than double over the past 12 months, and forecasts for the full year are suggesting a 20% rise in earnings per share. That puts the shares on a P/E of 18, but 2014 estimates drop that to 14.

Finally, reliable dividends can more than compensate for the day-to-day ups and downs of share prices. So how about a company that’s offering a 5% yield and which could be set for some nice share price appreciation too?

It’s the subject of our BRAND-NEW report, “The Motley Fool’s Top Income Share For 2013“, which you can get completely free of charge — but it will only be available for a limited period, so click here to get your copy today.

> Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article.

Should you invest, the value of your investment may rise or fall and your capital is at risk. Before investing, your individual circumstances should be assessed. Consider taking independent financial advice.

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