Ashtead has been a very good recovery stock.One to watch leading up to results 13th December and beyond.

From The Times, 21 Nov:

Rumour of the day

Data released early by the American Institute of Architects showed that construction demand had picked up in October from the previous month, thanks to stronger demand for schools and hospitals. ABN Amro believes that the price of Ashtead, the construction equipment hirer, off p to 81p, is wrongly factoring in a US construction crash.

If you can catch this one at the right time ,it could be a big winner.
At the beginning of 2004,it went from below 20 to 240 in early 2006.
However,might be a while before it touches bottom.

Todays excellent results suggest that activity in the commercial construction sector is still strong perhaps the so called economists have got it wrong and fail to see the underlying strength of the US economy.

The devaluation of the dollar "may" have stimulated their economy judging by employment figures etc.

HI FRED I THOUGHT THAT WAS THE IDEA???MAKE THE REST OF US PAY FOR THEIR WAY OF LIFE/

another tough day in AHT land today. unless the Dow recovers the shorters may take hold again. a difficult long to hold at the moment but i reckon this will be a lot higher in the spring.

Be careful, telegraph recommended selling in the short to medium term, as they don't believe that company will be able to keep up level of contracts as US budget shrinks, there are concerns over its debt of 900 million and market cap of 400million, understandably so, However US may need to spend on projects such as deteriorating infrastructure soon to boost jobs and stop the US infrastructure falling apart like certain bridges, so outlook isn't as bad as they say in my opinion.

Waiting and watching first before committing further, at some point this will be a very attractive stock but market certainly doesn't like it at the moment

hi steveo I READ THE SAME STORIES IN THE AMERICAN PRESS//so doing as yourself/

Steveo you have hit the nail on the head re deteriorating infrastructure, like many countries in the 'developed' world the USA has not spent on their infrastructure, I read somewhere that in 2005 their drinking water was given the lowest grading possible by the American Society of Civil Engineers. So AHT should be a beneficiary of any increase in spending on infrastructure.
2517

Anyone with interest in AHT here?

Is this 'on the up' or just tracking sideways at about SP 80?

Any views welcome.

Tricky one this, I don't hold them but i've been in & out of AHT a few times over a 4-5 year period, sentiment is against it, ie the US housing market but they are not unduly exposed to this area so maybe their results on the 4th March will give a clearer picture, debt is high, but I think they could surprise on the upside, all imo of course. Just released some funds from PFL so I may take a look.
2517

Hi all .................. I too have been in / ot of this one over the last couple of years.

But what a drop today.

Tempted to get in at some point .......... Charts suggest it is oversold.

More views welcome.

Good luck
Amar

See what you mean Amar, this one has been off my radar for a couple of weeks so hadn't realised they have dropped from the low 80's. mmm
2517

what's going on here?
down 14%-8 3/4

And yet the Company keeps buying shares almost everday??????

Are any of us brave enough to dip in ................ or do we wait for results?

Cheers
Amar

Toya kindly pointed my sticky fingers at this one, so i bought a few on Friday .... wonder how the news below will affect sp tomorrow ......


Equipment rental group Ashtead Plc., which has recently seen its share price spike on bid rumours, is on the verge of selling its oil and gas technology division to a private equity firm for about 100 million pounds, according to The Sunday Telegraph.
The newspaper said it has learned the company received final-round offers for the division from buyout firms Phoenix Equity Partners and Barclays Private Equity.
Lloyds Development Capital was also in the final round, but it is not clear whether it decided to submit an offer for the business, the article added.
Banking sources said one of the private-equity bidders is likely to move into exclusive discussions in the next couple of weeks and a deal could complete soon afterwards, the newspaper said.

Current broker target set 26.5.08 is 76p.
Any idea where this is heading based on the news, or is this just a hopeful punt?

Harrycat: article from The Times, 28May2008 alerted me to this one:

"This is a gloomy time for the construction industry, particularly companies with exposure to the US, such as Ashtead, the forklift truck and crane hire group. So dealers were dumbfounded yesterday when its shares shot up 11 per cent on 12 million traded - some six times the usual volume.
"The shares closed up 7p at 75p, sparking talk of a bid. An approach from management had been mooted late last year. The rise on such high volumes is too big for the broker upgrade initially rumoured. More likely is that Ashtead is close to selling its oil and gas technology business, which hires underwater cameras and portable weather stations to the booming energy industry. A deal is likely to be concluded in time for results on June 26.
"The company said recently that sale talks were progressing well, having appointed N M Rothschild in April to find buyers for the arm, expected to fetch up to 100 million, which will help to bring down its 1 billion debt. Matthew Earl, who covers Ashtead for Investec, its house broker, said: The most likely thing on the cards is the sale of the oil service business.

Ouch! 1b debt!!! 100m isn't going to make much of a dent in that. So short term spike in the sp then?

By my rough calculations,the results just announced(76 million profit ) puts the company on a P E of just 2!