Am holding onto Shares in Cookson at the moment. Has been a lot of movement in shares anyone holding aswell?? Any predictions or further info???

A bit of historic research from the thread....

Midas share tips: Cookson and Salamander Energy
Midas is edited by Joanne Hart
16 March 2008

The Financial Mail on Sunday's respected stock picker takes a look at an engineering company that has undergone a transformation.



Cookson's new focus pays off
Cookson is one of those companies that has been around for a while. The group was founded decades ago and has fought off more than one economic slowdown in its time.

Originally an engineering concern, Cookson was heavily involved in the electronics market in the late Nineties and early part of this century. But it has shifted emphasis in recent years under the direction of chief executive Nick Salmon. He joined the company in 2004 and set about selling non-core businesses to focus on the ceramics market.

These ceramics are not delicate china pieces but industrial materials used in areas such as the production of highquality steel and solar panels. The steel market has been growing at a rate of knots because fast-expanding economies such as China, eastern Europe and Brazil have been building roads, railways and buildings, all of which need copious amounts of the metal.

This growth is set to continue as experts suggest the steel market will expand at between five and six per cent a year for several years to come. Cookson is particularly well placed to benefit. It has a strong presence in Brazil, China, India and Russia, which not only require more steel than the rest of the world but are also upgrading their production methods in such a way that they will require more of Cookson's ceramics in future.

The company is a market leader in its field and a major supplier to most global steel producers. The group is also a key player in the solar panel market. This industry is growing at about 30% a year, it is a high-margin business and Cookson has an 80% share of the ceramics side of the market.

Last year, Cookson announced the acquisition of Foseco, a fellow engineer involved in the steel-making process. This deal is expected to complete within weeks and should boost profits from this year on.

Cookson recently unveiled its results for 2007 with a 17% rise in profits to 170 million and a 30% increase in the total dividend to 13p. Ceramics profits rose 25% to 109m and Salmon said he was confident about prospects in 2008.

In fact, both he and finance director Mike Butterworth bought shares last week, underlining their faith in the business. Their confidence is shared by brokers who know the company well. But the stock has been hit by concerns from more casual observers about Cookson's electronics business and its precious metals division.



The electronics business is largely involved in highly complex products, supplying a range of markets including military, medical and computing. But it also has a consumer electronics side and this may be affected by falling consumer spending. Analysts believe the electronics arm will be sold in the next couple of years.

The precious metals division makes jewellery and other products, including the blanks for coins and medals in the UK and America. One of its customers, for instance, is the US Mint. This business may also see demand slackening if economic activity slows significantly but Cookson has taken pre-emptive steps in both divisions, cutting costs and improving productivity.

Midas verdict: Cookson shares, which were 900p last year, are now trading at 606p. The market has been spooked by memories of Cookson's performance in past downturns but the company has changed significantly since then. Buy.

GREEN SHOOTS.ITS A WINNER.

Found that new note on CKSN Cookson remember a 500p buy recommendation had already been called by Goldman Sachs who had the stock at the very top (yes Nos 1 on their conviction list)and now we have another top broker joining in....

Bank of America Merrill Lynch increases its price target for the industrial materials firm to 400 pence from 270 pence and raises its EPS forecast for 2010 by 6 percent.

The analysts say newsflow is improving, with signs of destocking coming to an end, and they believe the covenant concerns surrounding Cookson are manageable.

"The group has just as much leverage to a recovery as it has to recent weakness, and were organic growth to bounce 10 percent next year there would be 20+ percent upside to our 2010 EPS forecast," they write in a note.
Reuters messaging rm://victoria.bryan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net

Re CKSN Cookson.....

Im sure this one is going to push on upwards this coming week after two recent very bullish note from 2 very well respected brokers, lets face it Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch are looked upon as the rich mans broker.........

1. BROKER CALL Cookson price target ramped up to 500p
22 May, 2009

Goldman Sachs makes a big call on Cookson, ramping up its price target to 500p from 220p and adding it to its conviction buy list. Broker explains: 'In our view, Cookson continues to offer the most attractive risk/reward profile within our coverage universe and offers 170% potential upside to a mid-cycle valuation. With recent data points showing a stabilization in steel and an improvement in electronics markets (85% of Cookson's revenue combined), we believe the company is unlikely to breach its debt covenants at the end of the full year.'........................

2.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch increases its price target for the industrial materials firm to 400 pence from 270 pence and raises its EPS forecast for 2010 by 6 percent.

The analysts say newsflow is improving, with signs of destocking coming to an end, and they believe the covenant concerns surrounding Cookson are manageable.

"The group has just as much leverage to a recovery as it has to recent weakness, and were organic growth to bounce 10 percent next year there would be 20+ percent upside to our 2010 EPS forecast," they write in a note.
Reuters messaging rm://victoria.bryan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net

A lot missed this due to the bank holiday week....

Shares in Cookson rise as much as 8.6 percent as Bank of America Merrill Lynch increases its price target for the industrial materials firm to 400 pence from 270 pence and raises its EPS forecast for 2010 by 6 percent.

The analysts say newsflow is improving, with signs of destocking coming to an end, and they believe the covenant concerns surrounding Cookson are manageable.

"The group has just as much leverage to a recovery as it has to recent weakness, and were organic growth to bounce 10 percent next year there would be 20+ percent upside to our 2010 EPS forecast," they write in a note.

Reuters messaging rm://victoria.bryan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net

Bought at 258p... seems to be a Good Buy.

Sold at 305p today. Quick profit.

GOOD MOVE HLYEO98
ARE YOU GOING BACK IN.

Not yet, I'm watching at the moment. 230-235p I will go in.

wodering if it will become penny share again from here.

Shorted CKSN at 365p.

At 530p, I'm shorting CKSN.

Bought in on CKSN today as a recovery play. Was mentioned in the Times today...

anyone else still in ?

courtesy i i i....
Friday tips round-up: Cookson and EnQuest
http://www.digitallook.com/news/5129562/Friday_tips_round-up_Cookson

The Times Tempus column looks at Cookson Group, the material manufacturers. It got walloped yesterday after issuing a trading update saying an exit from its North American business was possible on falling sales of precious metals to customers like Wal Mart. Additional weakeness in solar power materials stateside means the end may be nigh for Cookson in America

Elsewhere however steel production was 10% up on 2010 and sector expectations are of a 5.4% rise in demand in 2012. This is big business for the ceramics arm of Cookson. There is also huge demand for tablet and smart phone materials, which is driving revenues at Cookson's electronics division. With pre-tax profits set to rise by 18% on the year and, according to forecasts, 8% in 2012 Tempus thinks Cookson is a buy.



Bought in on CKSN today as a recovery play. Was mentioned in the Times

StockMarketWire.com
Citigroup has downgraded its recommendation on industrial materials supplier Cookson (LON:CKSN) to "neutral" from "buy" as the stock homed in on the brokers target price. The City broker has left its share price target unchanged at 650 pence. Broker Forecasts consensus data highlights that 41 per cent of brokers have a buy recommendation on the stock while the remainder are maintaining a neutral stance. Analyst Mark Fielding said: "We downgrade Cookson to neutral from buy. The upcoming demerger into Vesuvius and Alent may well create further valuation upside. However, the share is now trading close to our current target price for the combined group and we will re-assess our view on valuation for Vesuvius once the demerger of Alent is complete and the underlying valuation of the individual parts is more visible. Shares in Cookson have increased in value by over 10 per cent in the past month. "

UBS comment:
"Vesuvius generates over 50% of its revenues from global steel markets, where it provides lining and flow control refractories. It also serves the foundry markets and has a small Precious Metals operation. This note is essentially a continuation of our views from the old Cookson Group, from which Alent has now been demerged.
We think Vesuvius should be buoyed short term given improving US steel production rates and lower inventories in China. After a very tough September/October for Vesuvius there should be a sequential improvement in volumes. The addition of cost-cutting, 1,000 headcount has been removed, lowers the cost base by at least £30m p.a. Industrial lead indicators are broadly positive too and this all bodes well in our view for Vesuvius’ share price post-demerger. We see global steel production as relatively lacklustre relative to other demand drivers in the sector and we think this lowers the inherent organic growth Vesuvius can produce. We see emerging markets as a tough operating environment for Vesuvius, particularly given the existence of Sinoref in China. The specialist raw materials that Vesuvius uses also pose a risk given input price inflation. We think the combination of these factors means there is a cap on margin development. Under an EV/IC framework we think Cookson should trade on a c0.9x EV/IC multiple. This is consistent with our 315p price target and hence Neutral rating.

StockMarketWire.com
Cookson Group's scheme of arrangement for the proposed demerger of the performance materials division to Alent has now become effective

Cookson's shares have been cancelled and it has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vesuvius plc.

Investec comment:
"Demerger of the former Cookson Group on 19 December presents an opportunity to leave behind an unfortunate legacy. The group was a serial equity fund-raiser – to finance acquisitions or survival – and it had a record of value destruction. In spite of the undoubted cyclicality of its markets, we believe that Vesuvius can break with the past and be managed prudently to generate robust cash flows, underpinning a good and progressive dividend. We expect Vesuvius to be valued in much the same way as Cookson Group, on account of their business similarities and investors‟ concerns, which have always focused on the Ceramics business. On the basis of the stand-alone estimates in this report, we derive a PE-based target price of 346p."