Again huge buys after hours.Why?

looks good

and out with profit for another wee while, maybe, maybe not

SGC Stagecoach Group PLC. TA looks good for a short to medium term breakout.



1 Year chart



FUNDIES.

Stagecoach Group PLC

FORECASTS 2011 2012
Date Rec Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p)

Panmure Gordon
07-03-11 BUY 193.00 22.40 7.15 192.00 22.00 7.70
Shore Capital
04-03-11 BUY 200.20 23.00 7.20 199.20 23.00 7.80
Peel Hunt
03-03-11 BUY 195.77 22.37 6.50 191.20 21.61 6.50
Arbuthnot Securities
01-03-11 SBUY 198.05 22.30 7.20 196.28 21.90 7.90
Charles Stanley Securities
09-02-11 ADD 195.50 21.27 2.30 182.30 20.10 7.33
The Royal Bank of Scotland NV
25-01-11 HOLD 200.27 22.02 7.15 198.73 21.80 7.86
Charles Stanley
20-01-11 HOLD 185.00 21.00 7.20 200.00 22.00 8.00
Collins Stewart
24-12-09 HOLD
Nomura Research Institute [R]
01-07-09 BUY 173.00 19.30 6.60

2011 2012
Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax () EPS (p) DPS (p)

Consensus 195.78 22.08 6.33 193.86 21.74 7.54
1 Month Change -0.31 -0.01 0.06 0.09 0.04 -0.02
3 Month Change 4.74 0.26 -0.73 -0.84 -0.25 -0.07


GROWTH
2010 (A) 2011 (E) 2012 (E)

Norm. EPS -19.12% 19.33% -1.58%
DPS 82.91% -40.85% 19.13%

INVESTMENT RATIOS
2010 (A) 2011 (E) 2012 (E)

EBITDA 286.40m 302.92m 307.17m
EBIT 203.20m 194.74m 192.83m
Dividend Yield 5.05% 2.99% 3.56%
Dividend Cover 1.73x 3.49x 2.88x
PER 11.44x 9.59x 9.74x
PEG -0.60f 0.50f -6.16f
Net Asset Value PS -14.28p 22.82p 35.61p

OUTLOOK. 7/03/2011

Outlook

Overall current trading remains good and we believe the prospects for the Group remain positive.

Here we are to excelent pieces of news....

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103240716215408D

and

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201103240720125410D

good move upwards today.

Tuesday will bring us full-year results from rail and bus operator Stagecoach . At the time of its pre-close update in April, things were looking good, with like-for-like revenue growth expected in all four of the company's divisions. The US transport division, which accounts for more than 10% of overall business, is forecast to grow its revenues by 14%, which is the strongest of them all.

So what's Stagecoach looking like as an investment? The dividend for the year is expected to come in at only around 3%, but the shares have fallen this year, and despite having put in a good three-year performance, they're on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio for the year of under 10, which is not stretching.

Nomura has reiterated its 'buy' recommendation and 305p target price for transport group Stagecoach after its full-year figures came in four per cent higher than forecasts. "Despite concerns around the UK bus business in the wake of the First Group profit warning, trading has been robust, with FY2012 ahead of our forecasts," the broker said in a research note on Tuesday morning . All major divisions except West Coast beat its forecasts. Nomura says that risk reward is "favourable" with the shares trading at just nine times 2013 forecasts. BC

..

Stagecoach increases dividend by almost 10%
StockMarketWire.com
Adjusted earnings per share at Stagecoach Group for the year ended April 30 2012 was up 6.7% to 25.4p.

The full year dividend is up almost 10% to 7.8p.

The company has succeeded in the expansion of megabus.com in North America and Europe and obtained a new alliance with Network Rail.

Like-for-like revenue is up 6.9% across the Group.

Virgin Rail Group's bid for new West Coast rail franchise was submitted last month and it has been shortlisted for two new UK rail franchises

The company says there is further potential to grow operating profit at the acquired London bus business.

Commenting on the results, Chief Executive, Sir Brian Souter, said: "We continue to see good organic growth in our bus and rail services in the UK and North America. This has been supported by our successful mix of innovation, value-for-money travel, continued investment in our services, and strong operational delivery.

"Our UK regional bus operations are delivering good returns with different management approaches applied to respond to the different conditions in each of the markets in which we operate. In London, our turnaround plan is progressing well and we have won new contracts on more acceptable profit margins.

"We are excited about the next phase of our growth plan for our budget coach brand, megabus.com. As well as testing the market in Europe, we are expanding to new locations in North America where the response to the product from consumers has been particularly strong.

"The planned acquisitions from Coach America will enable us to expand our US business at a reasonable price while further underpinning the development of megabus.com in targeted regions.

"In UK Rail, we are pleased that East Midlands Trains has returned to profit and South West Trains continues to perform well. We are involved in shortlisted bids for a number of new franchises. At South West Trains, we are moving forward with our alliance with Network Rail to deliver a more efficient railway and a better service for passengers. We believe this approach can be a model for future franchises and our pioneering work can give the Group first mover advantage.

"Across our business, our new ideas and partnerships are helping shape the future of public transport and the Stagecoach difference is delivering strong returns to our shareholders. We believe the outlook for our bus and rail services is positive and we look forward with confidence to the year ahead."

26 June 2012



Stagecoach Group plc - Preliminary results for the year ended 30 April 2012



Business highlights



Maximising shareholder returns

· Adjusted earnings per share* up 6.7% to 25.4 pence (2011: 23.8 pence)

· Full year dividend up almost 10% to 7.8 pence (2011: 7.1 pence)

· c.£340m cash return to shareholders in October 2011



Leading the way in improving transport for passengers

· Growth underpinned by innovation, value for money, investment and operational delivery

· Expansion of megabus.com in North America and Europe

· New Alliance with Network Rail



Pursuit of new opportunities for growth

· Like-for-like revenue up 6.9% across the Group

· Virgin Rail Group's bid for new West Coast rail franchise submitted May 2012

· Shortlisted for two new UK rail franchises

· US$134m planned acquisition of businesses and assets from Coach America

· Further potential to grow operating profit at acquired London Bus business





http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4395243

..Questor share tip: Stagecoach motors on

By Nathalie Thomas | Telegraph – 8 hours ago




......
Train operators will never win any popularity contests, no matter how well they spin their punctuality figures, customer satisfaction levels and the like.

Stagecoach 263.5p+13.7 Questor says Buy

So it’s little wonder that when transport groups such as Stagecoach put out their numbers, their UK train businesses attract the most attention.

In Stagecoach’s case, its troubled East Midlands franchise stole the limelight at its full-year results. It reported similar issues on the East Midlands franchise as Go-Ahead did on its Southern (Hamburg: SOT.HM - news) services last week.

Revenues and passenger numbers may still be growing but they’re not meeting the forecasts made when the two companies bid for their franchises - long before anyone realised the severity of the economic downturn.

Stagecoach reported a 44pc slump in operating profit at its UK rail division - which also includes the South West Trains franchise - to £27.1m. Grim as this figure may be, it’s not time to jump off the train and hail a taxi instead. Many in the City thought the results were “robust” given we’re in a double-dip recession.

Group revenues at the Perth-headquartered group edged up to £2.6bn from £2.4bn in 2011.

Pre-tax profits from continuing operations of £202.5m slipped from the £205.7m last time, though after adjusting for various exceptional items - including a £38m pension benefit - the figure rises to £239.8m.

While buses are often considered boring compared to trains, Stagecoach’s UK bus division was the real bright spot, outperforming most analysts’ expectations.

Operating profit at its regional bus division increased to £162.7m from £153.1m in 2011 despite complaints from some competitors about a growing “north-south divide” hitting travel in some parts of the country.

Sir Brian Souter, Stagecoach chief executive, admitted to some concerns about the north-east of England. But otherwise he is confident about the prospects for the bus operation, which he says, was “stress-tested” during the recession of 2009. So confident, in fact, that he believes there may be “opportunities” to buy assets put on the market by rival FirstGroup (Other OTC: FGROF.PK - news) .

Having bought back its old London bus business for a knockdown £52.8m in October 2010, the turnaround is humming along, with Stagecoach reversing last time’s £5.9m losses to post £13.5m profits.

Despite some challenges over delivering services during the Olympics, Stagecoach believes there is further to go in getting its London operation to motor.

Analysts at Deutsche Bank (Xetra: 514000 - news) say margins in London bus should be able to reach 7pc-7.5pc from 5.9pc at present.

North America is the smallest part of the group but with the roll-out of Sir Brian’s budget coach service megabus.com it is also the fastest growing.

So while there are ups and downs in rail, there’s plenty more to drive the company forward and this sentiment was reflected in yesterday’s 5.4pc lift in the share price to 263.5p.

On analysts’ forecasts of £196m pre-tax profits, the shares are trading on a prospective multiple of just under 10 times, yielding almost 3pc. Stagecoach is a good defensive, cash-generative stock. Hang on for the ride. Buy.

..

RESEARCH ALERT-HSBC raises Stagecoach to overweight
Mon, 30th Jul 2012 07:33

July 30 (Reuters) - Stagecoach Group PLC:

* HSBC raises Stagecoach to overweight from neutral; price target to

310p from 250p

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4427309

West Coast rail franchise

Stagecoach Group plc ("Stagecoach") is disappointed that its joint venture, Virgin Rail Group, has been unsuccessful in its bid for the new West Coast rail franchise, due to commence in December 2012.

Could see a red day today

Ironically, it looks like a bullish engulfing candle here and a bearish engulfing on FGP.

12 month high today @295.30p - charts above (bullish/bearish) still looking ok.

Interim Management Statement

Government scraps $9 billion West Coast rail deal

LONDON | Wed Oct 3, 2012 5:10am BST

(Reuters) - Britain scrapped on Wednesday a $9 billion (5.5 billion pounds) deal that had awarded the West Coast rail line to FirstGroup Plc, citing flaws in the government's figures, just a day after the company had said it was prepared to take over the key mainline train service this year.

FirstGroup in August won the 13-year deal for the London-to-Scotland line with a bid of around 6 billion pounds, but the decision was challenged by Virgin Trains, a joint venture between high-profile billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Group and Stagecoach.