Why Bovis Homes Group plc, Kentz Corporation Limited And Amlin plc Should Beat The FTSE 100 Today

Bovis Homes Group plc (LON: BVS), Kentz Corporation Limited (LON: KENZ) and Amlin plc (LON: AML) start the week well.

| More on:

The content of this article was relevant at the time of publishing. Circumstances change continuously and caution should therefore be exercised when relying upon any content contained within this article.

When investing, your capital is at risk. The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you put in.

Read More

The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and is not intended to be, nor does it constitute, any form of personal advice. Investments in a currency other than sterling are exposed to currency exchange risk. Currency exchange rates are constantly changing, which may affect the value of the investment in sterling terms. You could lose money in sterling even if the stock price rises in the currency of origin. Stocks listed on overseas exchanges may be subject to additional dealing and exchange rate charges, and may have other tax implications, and may not provide the same, or any, regulatory protection as in the UK.

You’re reading a free article with opinions that may differ from The Motley Fool’s Premium Investing Services. Become a Motley Fool member today to get instant access to our top analyst recommendations, in-depth research, investing resources, and more. Learn More.

It’s looking like another gloomy Monday for the FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE), 15 points down on 6,485 approaching midday and following on from an 83-point loss last week. And with fears of a scaling-down of economic stimulus measures in response to recent upbeat news dominating thought at the moment, we could easily be in for the FTSE’s third week of losses in a row.

 But there are still some glimmers of optimism amongst individual shares. Here are three from the various indices that are picking up today:

Bovis Homes

First-half figures sent Bovis Homes Group shares up 8.3p (1.1%) to 787p this morning, as the housebuilder reported a 17% rise in housing revenue to £183m with pre-tax profit up 19% to £18.6m. Earnings per share (EPS) gained 26% to 10.8p and the firm lifted its interim dividend by 33% to 4p per share. An average sales price of  £188,500 was achieved, up 15%, and the number of completed homes rose 2% to 963.

Bovis shares are up around 60% over the past 12 months, with a 35% rise in EPS forecast for the full year — and that doesn’t look at all unlikely now.

Kentz Corporation

Shares in Kentz Corporation soared 106p (22%) this morning to 581p, after the engineering services firm confirmed it has been the target of one bid and may become the target of another. The confirmed bid, from Amec, was described by the firm as “a highly conditional and unsolicited proposal“. It valued the shares at 565-580p, and the board of Kentz “concluded that it undervalued the company and therefore unanimously rejected the approach“.

Austrian firm M&W Group has also presented a possible bid, but no firm offer has come from it — Kentz told us that it is not considering it.

Amlin

Specialist insurer and underwriter Amlin (LSE: AML) published its interim figures this morning, and the result was a modest share price rise of 2.5p (1%) to 394p even though pre-tax profit was reported to be down 12% to £161m. There were catastrophe losses in the period, with none at the same stage last year, but at £32m they were not too damaging.

Earnings per share dipped 17% to 28.2p, but the firm was happy enough to lift its dividend by 4% to 7.8p per share. Going on current forecasts, Amlin shares are on a forward P/E of only around 8.5. There’s also a dividend yield in excess of 6% expected, and it should be covered about 1.8 times by earnings.

Finally, if you’re looking for investments that should take you all the way to a comfortable retirement, I recommend the Fool’s special new report detailing five blue-chip shares. They’ll be familiar names to many, and they’ve already provided investors with decades of profits.

But the report will only be available for a limited period, so click here to get your hands on these great ideas — they could set you on the road to long-term riches.

> 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.

More on Investing Articles

Investing Articles

Up 670% in 2 years! This former penny share is skyrocketing on SpaceX contracts

Shares of Filtronic (LON:FTC) were soaring to multi-year highs today after another contract win with SpaceX. Should I buy this…

Read more »

Investing Articles

Why is the Greatland Gold (GGP) share price up 10% today?

Our writer looks at the reasons why the Greatland Gold (GGP) share price is the AIM 100’s best performer today.

Read more »

Passive income text with pin graph chart on business table
Investing Articles

What do I need for a passive income of £100k a year?

How much would I need to invest to collect a very healthy yearly passive income on my retirement? Surprisingly, the…

Read more »

US Stock

£2k invested in Nvidia stock 2 years ago is now worth this boggling amount…

Jon Smith details how much unrealised profit an investor would have from buying Nvidia stock but is cautious about what…

Read more »

Investing Articles

2 value stocks that still look cheap despite the FTSE rally!

Harvey Jones picks out two UK value stocks that still look nicely priced even as the UK index climbs. He…

Read more »

Dividend Shares

I asked ChatGPT to build the perfect passive income portfolio and here’s the result

Jon Smith turns to the world of AI to try and find out whether ChatGPT could build an investor a…

Read more »

Investing Articles

£20,000 to invest? Here’s how the FTSE 100 could deliver a £2,040 passive income

Here are two ways that investors with a lump sum to spend could target a large passive income with FTSE…

Read more »

Runner standing at the starting point with 2025 year for starting in new year 2025 to achieve business planing and success concept.
Investing Articles

Here’s how someone could start investing in 2025 with just £1,000

Planning to start investing in 2025? This writer highlights two very different stocks that might be worth considering for a…

Read more »