It is good to be in Oil at the moment. Here is a way in which you can exploit the oil bonanza in an indirect way. Hunting PLC is an international Oil Service company providing various service solutions to some of the world's largest Oil and Gas operators.
Having been through a tough 2001-2002, things seem to be on the up with the market Hunting operates in being bouyant.

The latest results were good:
Turnover 1,195m (2002: 951m) +25.6%
Total operating profit 25.2m (2002: 24.4m) +3.3%
Pre-tax profit 21.1m (2002: 19.1m) +10.5%
Basic earnings per share 6.4p per share (2002: 4.1p) +56.1%
Ordinary dividend per share 3.50p (2002: 3.0p) +16.7%

Oil and gas prices are sky high so expect a drilling bonanza. Hunting is well placed globally, and especially for Canada’s tar sands.

Vital stats:
Market value: 129m
Historic PE: 20
Prospective PE for 2004: 11
Prospective PE for 2005: 10
Dividend yield: 2.75%
NMS: 5,000
Spread: 3.8%

Solid trading statement released a couple of weeks ago.

This week disposed some loss-making assets that generated $45m.

The chart is enticing.

The stock is demonstrating good strength with the price now moving into a gap from 1.25 to 1.70 and then quickly to 2. This was the fall in June/July 2002 which came after the market realised Hunting was to be hit with the then decline in international oil exploration and drilling activity.

Things are now very different however and the price could move ahead very quickly from here.

Hunting has not been getting much press, but is a great way to play the recent surge in the Oil/Gas sector.

Compared to Schlumberger it is obvious that Hunting is somewhat of a bargain.

It has ticked up a few pence today but, IMO, still a long long way to go.

HI there. A couple of points. I like this share but to quote your words if the results in 5 weeks are "expected to be better than market expectations" then this is already expected. It depends on what EPS and growth the analysts have pencilled in for it. Also, how do you think it compares to the other oil service providers, eg. petrofac , expro, sondex etc.

I believe that the market expectations will be surpassed by a long way and cause a pleasant surprise similar to Schlumberger on Wall Street last Friday. The whole oil services industry is experiencing a boom time and, like the oil and gas exploration companies, much of the success is down to a continuingly strong oil price. However whilst much of the investment focus remains, unsurprisingly, with the explorers, the oil services sector remains IMO a very under researched and undervalued subsector. If a giant like Schlumberger can surprise Wall Street like it did on Friday just imagine the potential that the far smaller UK listed have to provide a similar, if not better, surprise.
All of the companies mentioned in the above post have their qualities and investment potential.
For me Hunting appeals as the most attractive in a quality bunch.

It is really motoring today......................................

Bought in this morning at 326p on the back of a point and figure chart buy signal (triple top breakout) having been monitoring for a while. Big fan of the oil support sector and the fundamentals look stroong with decent growth prospects

Fundy,

top man.

the share price has recently been held back by Fidelity cutting down their stake to less than 10%.

However I am now reliably informed that this is out of the way so the SP can begin to behave 'normally'.

Without the Fidelity nonsense I think we would already be at 4 and this remains the target for me during this month.

From today's Guardian:


Hunting, the oil field services group, was the best performer in the FTSE 250 yesterday. Its shares gained 22p to 342, lifted by the clearance of an overhang and inevitably takeover speculation. According to analysts Hunting's mixture of businesses - oil services, trading and transportation - could be attractive to its rivals, most of whom have higher stock market ratings. That said, Hunting should benefit from the fact that spending on new oil and gas exploration projects is set to soar in the next couple of years.

Broker Recommendations - Tuesday 28th February 2006, 12:15 pm
Teather & Greenwood says buy Hunting (LSE: HTG.L)

It's the day before the results are announced.
Good luck to all holders for tomorrow (although I don't think you'll need it !!)

;o)

http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200603020700511679Z.html

Quite spectacular results.

Onwards to 400p and beyond !!!!!!!!

Ian

agreed, a very solid set of results and prospects going forward very strong (chart looking nice too)

Hunting pretax profit jumped 148% in 2005 to 40.9m from 16.5m in 2004.

Yes a spectacular result indeed!!!

I am sure a lot more to come on the SP.

Looks like the rights issue money has been well used and the acquisition of Cromer being well integrated and exceding expectations and the balance sheet gives scope for more "purchased" growth as well as the organic growth

Fundy & Kaysmart

Glad there is at least three of us in this !!!!
I am really impressed by the strength of the SP all morning - solid and a steady upward trajectory.

I am sure the press will give a unanimous 5 star write up tomorrow (just like they all did at the time of the interims).

I just hope others take a bit of time to look into this one instead of spending their efforts on the small cap ramps and deramps (probably hoping for too much).

Also in this one for my long term PEP - fulfils criteria of profits, strong cash generation and dividends, with decent growth prospects. Results excellent - my only gripe is that "Other Activities" appeared to produce an operating loss of just over 2M on sales 58M. Hope they don't get complacent in some areas just because most are booming.

Partridge
Welcome on board !!!!
Good point.
I'll email the Company regarding that to see what it is about.
I'll post the reply as soon as I hear from them.

Ian and all

Quite happy to be in the sort of company that is mainly ignored by the masses and rampers and derampers (HWY and HDG are 2 others i hold which get little if any comment on BBs but both are performing wonderfully. And before people ask, yes i do buy shares that begin with letters other than H lol)

I only bought in quite recently, initially on a point and figure chart indicator and a small check on the fundamentals. Subsequently have done more work on the fundamentals and added to my position, with it being split part medium term swing trade and a core holding i will keep longer term.

For anyone who understands point and figure I have posted the current chart. The 3 horizontal blue lines are where successive buy signals have been given (the third needs to be confirmed by closing above 357p today) and should provide support (if needed)The first signal produced a target of 351p which was only slightly exceeded before the recent pull back. The second signal has given a target of 450p (no timescale)

Fundy
Thanks for posting the point and figure chart and the explanation - it is greatly appreciated.
My initial target was 400p (at which point the plan was to sell a third or perhaps half my holding to reinvest elsewhere) and am greatly reassured by your posting although I am a touch more bullish in that I think that price will be reached in the next couple of weeks.
In the absence of any suitable targets for reinvestment I may well run the entire holding for a tad longer.
I'll do a bit of research on the two other 'H' stocks that you mentioned above !
Cheers

;o)

Just got this from the Yahoo financial site:


Among the mid-caps, Hunting (LSE: HTG.L - news) led the gainers, up 24-3/4 at 372, after reporting a huge jump in pretax profit on soaring oil and gas prices, which prompted ABN Amro to raise its target to 440 pence from 400 and reaffirm its 'buy' rating.

Fundy - think you may be on to something with the letter H. I have done very well over the years from Halma,HBOS and HSBC, to add to your list!