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

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!

Maybe, but the sp looks at the future and building sector is dire - look at Estate agents going out of business and homes half-built. Hence the Hire industry will not have the resources to replace their old/rusting kit... IMHO...arrgh!

I can't argue about the economic problems,but Ashtead results look much better than expected,and with Obama stimulus plans and the like,tool hire may be the option more widely used.
There follows an article from The Daily Telegraph.

Ashtead lifted by US and UK infrastructure spending plans
Ashtead Group shares jumped after the construction equipment hire company said Government plans to increase infrastructure spending could start to boost the market by the end of 2009.

By Graham Ruddick
Last Updated: 1:42PM GMT 09 Dec 2008

Ashtead Group
The company said statements from political leaders in the US and UK were "encouraging" and that they could benefit as smaller rivals collapse and contractors increasingly choose to rent equipment rather than invest in their own because of financial constraint and uncertain order books.

Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, has said 3bn of public sector spending in the UK will be brought forward into 2009 and the Barack Obama, the US president-elect, has announced that he plans investment in national infrastructure not seen since the creation of the highway system in the 1950s. Both schemes are designed to stimulate the economy as concerns about rising unemployment grows.

However, Ashtead warned they were yet to see "firm financial commitments" from governments.

Ashtead, which conducts 85pc of its business in the US, was speaking as it revealed mixed results for the six months to October 31 and unveiled a cost-cutting programme to ensure the business is the "right size" for the anticipated levels of demand.

Pre-tax profits slumped 44pc to 39.5m in the half-year as the company incurred 37.1m of exceptional charges through the downsizing of the business. Underlying pre-tax profits rose to 76.6m from 71.5m.

Ashtead, which rents out a range of industrial equipment from diggers to small tools, has launched the cost-cutting programme after being hurt by the slump in housing and commercial construction.

The outlook for infrastructure construction in utilities, prisons, schools and transportation remains "good" for the medium term but future strength will depend on the Government proposals, it added.

Store closures, headcount reductions and a downsizing in the number of delivery vehicles have been applied by Ashtead with the aim of saving 45m in costs annually. The company reduced its staff from 9,594 worldwide to 9,381 during the period, although 130 of those were from the sale of Ashtead Technology.

The 89.8m generated from the sale of its oil and gas technology division was used to pay off the company's troublesome debts, which still managed to rise to 1.1bn from 963m because of the strengthening dollar. However, the company said the debt facilities were long-term and were structured to be "effectively covenant free".

Geoff Drabble, the chief executive, said: "Ashtead has continued to perform well against the background of weakening market conditions. Our strong and diversified market positions have and will continue to benefit the group but it is also important that we take prompt actions based upon realistic assumptions of the future trading environment.

"Longer term, our strong market positions, long-term committed debt facilities, cash generative and flexible business model and the decisive restructuring exercise which we are undertaking allow the board to view the future with confidence."

Shares in the company were trading up 5.5p - or 18pc - to 36.50p at lunchtime.

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Goes ex-div on the 28th jan '09.
Set to yield 6.0% in 2009.

Ashtead is up from under 30p ,so has had a good run of late.Some pullback is now taking place.
Prospects look better with the Obama stimulus package set to kick in.
Also,Ashtead has done the rags to riches thing before,going from 10p to 240 a few years ago!

Chess

Or done the riches to rags before - depending on when you start your chart !!!!

Quite right!
At least however,they are at the stage where they are putting on new clothing!
That dividend loks good.