I know that the mode for these threads tends to be smaller cap stocks but Pennon is looking so good at present I was interested to see if anyone else out there is holding or thinking of buying. The SP is on a fantastic run, it pays a nice fat dividend and even if the water regulators decision on prices was not what any of the water companies were looking for, Pennon is probably the least affected and the most favoured by analysts. Seems to me to be a winning combination!

Harry - I wasn't short - I was looking for an entry - which I have as of yesterday.

So I agree - more please.

Pushing ahead and not far off the 200 DMA. Might be confronted by the dilemma of taking profit pre-divi date.......hopefully!

"We (J P Morgan) retain our Overweight recommendation for PNN and our Neutral recommendation for UU, although we have reduced our price targets for both companies by 6.0% and 1.7% respectively to 700p and 735p."

I can live with that! :-)

What do you reckon skinny? A concerted push through the 200 DMA on the cards?

Yes - 680 looks quiet pivotal - like you , I'm unsure whether to hold for the dividend or trade it.

Divi isn't really that great, so if the sp gets close to 700p I will probably take profit. (hopefully before you cash in and move the sp!)

Nicely through the 200. Approaching decision time.

Goldman Sachs Neutral 688.50 684.00 - 758.00 Retains

Nearing your TP Harry (ex tomorrow), these and SVT strong today though!

Deutsche Bank Hold 691.00 650.00 650.00 Reiterates

Sold a few days ago with a moderate profit and punted all into QPP. No regrets.....so far!

StockMarketWire.com
Waste and water firm Pennon Group said its financial performance remains on track to meet expectations, with South West Water outperforming.

South West Water
South West Water is continuing its robust performance against the 2010-2015 regulatory contract and is well placed to outperform its assumptions. Despite the exceptional weather and resultant flooding in the South West, the company continues to deliver effective operational performance and high standards of customer service, underpinned by strong financial performance.

On 2 December 2013, South West Water submitted to Ofwat its Business Plan for the next five year period, 2015-2020 (K6). The plan reflects the most extensive customer/ stakeholder engagement and research ever undertaken by the company and feedback indicates it has achieved 84% acceptability from customers. Details of the Business Plan and an investor summary can be found on the South West Water website, http://waterfuture.southwestwater.co.uk/investor-summary.

On 19 December 2013, Ofwat published a revision to the ongoing K6 price review process. As part of this revision on 27 January 2014 Ofwat published risk and reward guidance for the industry. This included guidance on key financial parameters, including the cost of capital for the K6 period. The company is currently reviewing this guidance.

Viridor

As stated previously, this is a transitional period for Viridor. The company has made excellent progress in establishing its Energy from Waste ("EfW") business which will transform Viridor into a leading player in the UK renewable energy sector. Notwithstanding the adverse weather and difficult trading conditions, Viridor is successfully holding operational performance broadly in line with management expectations and operating contribution is slightly ahead of last year. PBIT plus joint ventures is still expected to be broadly similar to last year but has been impacted by increased pension costs as a result of auto-enrolment and by the outage previously flagged at Lakeside.

Since 30 September 2013 Pennon Group Plc has:

· Drawn down £60m from the EIB and a further £130m facility being progressed

· Renewed and increased a £60m term loan to £100m

· Drawn down a £30m Revolving Credit Facility (RCF)

The Company intends to announce its Preliminary Results for 2013/14 on Tuesday 3rd June 2014.

StockMarketWire.com
Analysts at Deutsche Bank believe the recent announcement from OFWAT on financial parameters and incentives is helping improve regulatory visibility, specifically on returns, and should enable UK water companies to outperform, going forward. The broker believes another likely outcome of the review will be to provide companies with flexibility over cashflow which, in turn, should support steady dividend growth. Deutsche has therefore upgraded its recommendations for Severn Trent (LON:SVT) and Pennon (LON:PNN) to "buy" from "hold" and reaffirmed its existing "buy" rating on United Utilities. Target price have been increased across the board with SVT rising to 2,000 pence per share (from 1,550 pence), PNN to 800 pence (from 650 pence) and UU to 1,000 pence (from 800 pence). "Within a year we believe the sector will have regulatory and dividend visibility and a resumption of bid speculation is possible," the broker said in a note to clients. "These factors could drive a re-rating of listed water stocks to levels comparable with UK and US regulated peers." Given an implied upside of around 30 per cent to its upgraded target price, Deutsche highlights United Utilities as its top pick in the sector.

StockMarketWire.com
Pennon Group said its South West Water subsidiary has accepted Ofwat's invitation to adopt the principles of the regulator's risk and reward guidance published on 27 January 2014.

"The company has submitted an updated business plan to Ofwat reflecting these principles and awaits Ofwat's confirmation on 4 April 2014 that these new proposals are acceptable to the regulator and are in line with its guidance," Pennon said.

South West Water was the only water and sewerage company to have a 2015-20 business plan that pre-qualified for 'enhanced' status together with one water only company.

South West Water submitted its five-year business plan to Ofwat in December 2013, following its biggest ever consultation; a public approval rating of at least 84 per cent; and the support of the independent WaterFuture Customer Panel.

Ofwat has stated that it will publish draft determinations for enhanced companies on 30 April 2014.

Final Results

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

· Profit before tax(1) (2) up 9.1% to £207.3m

- South West Water up 10.8% to £162.5m

- Viridor down 19.5% to £27.6m

- Viridor PBIT + JVs down 4.6% to £43.6m

- Viridor EBITDA down 1.8% to £76.3m

· Net exceptional charges £48.6m (post tax £39.7m)

· Earnings per share(1) (3) up 5.7% to 42.6p

· Dividend

- Full year dividend up 6.5% to 30.31p

- Recommended final dividend per share up 6.2% to 20.92p

· Strong liquidity and funding position

- £640m new/refinanced facilities since 31 March 2013

- £1,303m cash/committed facilities at 31 March 2014

- Average cost of debt reduced to 3.8%

· Substantial progress in delivery of major capital programmes

- South West Water capex up 22% - target efficiencies delivered

- Viridor - 70% of spend now complete on EfW projects under construction

· Group businesses well positioned for the future

Is that drop in the chart right Skinny?

Just checked, and no it isn't.

Credit Suisse Underperform 760.25 783.50 645.00 645.00 Reiterates

RBC Capital Markets Outperform 760.25 783.50 810.00 810.00 Reiterates

Pennon Group PLC.

Break up on the cards on the chart. Speculation that this one is a takeover target.

Deutsche Bank.
Pennon reported FY 2013/14 results slightly ahead of expectations. The
company highlighted excellent progress in developing its energy from waste
pipeline and reiterated its target for the projects to add £100m of EBITDA. It
highlighted the success of its water business in achieving enhanced status for
the 2014 regulatory review, although said nothing new about the scope for
outperformance over the 2015-20 regulatory period, or on its future dividend
policy. We retain a positive view, with an investment in Pennon’s shares
offering attractive returns compared to low risk regulated peers in our view.

The company reported results slightly ahead of expectations, with profits from
the water business ahead of expectations, but profits at Viridor slightly below
expectations. It reported group EBIT of £257m (DB forecast £250m, last year
£246m), PBT of £207m (DB forecast £194m, last year £191m), and EPS of
42.6p (DB forecast 38.6p, last year 41.0p). It announced a 6.5% increase in FY
DPS to 30.3p, in-line with its policy to growth DPS by RPI inflation + 4% p.a.

The company reiterated its target for energy from waste projects to add
c.£100m to Viridor’s EBITDA and said that its rollout of projects was
progressing well. Runcorn 1 and Exeter are burning waste; Ardley is in the
process of commissioning; and Runcorn 2 and Cardiff are expected to enter
commissioning shortly. The company said it has contracted c.80% of waste
inputs required at opening of projects, of which c.60% is from long-term
contracts. It said that cost cutting and mix improvements had led to a partial
recovery of margins in the recycling business, although said it remained
cautious on the prospects for recyclate prices. It announced a further c.£43m
write-down of its landfill assets, following on from large write-downs last year.

We retain a positive view on the UK water stocks, as we think that sector
offers attractive returns compared to low risk UK and US fully regulated peers.
We also think that there is the potential for more bids once the 2014 review
completes, which will set prices through to 2020. An investment in Pennon’s
shares offers a prospective economic return of c.8% p.a., compared to
National Grid and US utilities offering typical returns of c.6.5% p.a.. Although
we still worry that there may be long-run overbuild of energy from waste
capacity, short-term returns should be very attractive from these projects, and
drive strong group earnings growth over the next three years.