I here a whisper that Ashtead may become the target of a takeover bid. Anybody have any further news on this? I've been holding this little gem for a while now. Got in at 11.25p and then sold 2/3rds of my stock at 18p to break even. Can't quite decide when to take my mega profit. 1 by Christmas? Here's hoping.

3rd Quarter Results

Highlights

· Strong momentum continued with 26% revenue growth1 in the quarter, giving 19% for the nine months to date

· Record nine month pre-tax profit2 of £194m (2012: £105m)

· Group nine month EBITDA margin rises to 39% (2012: 35%)

· Net debt to EBITDA leverage1 reduced to 2.2 times (2012: 2.5 times)

· Board anticipates full year profit ahead of its earlier expectations

Closed the remainder.

Panmure Gordon Buy 566.00 524.50 447.00 626.00 Upgrades

Oriel Securities Buy 566.00 524.50 550.00 550.00 Retains

Cantor Fitzgerald (formerly Seymour Pierce) Buy 566.00 524.50 500.00 600.00 Reiterates

I'm out too now.

Probably keep running to 700p knowing my luck.

Gone long here after those non farm pay rolls figures from US

Already nearly breaking even.

Final Results

Highlights

· Momentum continued in Q4 with Sunbelt rental revenue up 23%

· Record Group pre-tax profit2 for the year of £247m (2012: £131m)

· Group EBITDA margins of 38% (2012: 34%)

· £580m of capital invested in the business

· Group RoI of 16% (2012: 12%)

· Net debt to EBITDA leverage reduced to 2.0 times (2012: 2.2 times)

· Proposed final dividend of 6.0p making 7.5p for the year (2012: 3.5p)

Brilliant trading update today.

looking for recent high and more.

20 Jun 2013 Ashtead Group PLC AHT Investec Buy 643.50 627.00 800.00 800.00 Retains

Ashtead FY Results: Initial broker reaction
20th June 2013, 15:05

Equipment rental firm Ashtead [LON:AHT] published a strong set of fourth quarter and full-year results today, which highlighted record group pre-tax profit for the year of £247 million versus £131 million for 2012.

On the back of an increasingly positive outlook, the group has proposed a final dividend of 6.0 pence per share, bringing the dividend for the year to 7.5 pence, versus 3.5 pence for 2012.

Canaccord Genuity explained, in a note to its clients today, that the fourth quarter results were better than expected and that it “reinforces our [the brokers] view that forecast risk remains to the upside.”

Canaccord has reaffirmed its ‘buy’ recommendation, leaving its price target unchanged at 710 pence per share.

Meanwhile, Investec considered the results to be very strong and commented: “This remains a key pick in the sector for us given our view that FY14 will be the first full-year that we see both structural growth and the cyclical recovery operating in tandem.”

Investec repeated its ‘buy’ rating and left its target price unchanged at 800 pence per share.

In terms of the wider view held by the City’s analysts, Broker Forecasts consensus data highlights overwhelming support for the stock, with 92 per cent of brokers rating the shares as either a ‘buy’ or ‘strong buy’.

At 3:02pm: Ashtead Group share price was up 28 pence at 655 pence

Brokers seem to like AHT...... Some still
to update after yesterdays fantastic
trading update....

Date Company Name Broker Rec. Price Old target price New target price Notes

21 Jun 13 Ashtead Group PLC JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral 655.50 - - Reiterates
20 Jun 13 Ashtead Group PLC Canaccord Genuity Buy 655.50 710.00 710.00 Reiterates
20 Jun 13 Ashtead Group PLC Investec Buy 655.50 800.00 800.00 Retains
12 Jun 13 Ashtead Group PLC Jefferies International Buy 655.50 690.00 690.00 Reiterates
10 Jun 13 Ashtead Group PLC Credit Suisse Outperform 655.50 850.00 - Reiterates
03 Jun 13 Ashtead Group PLC Citigroup Buy 655.50 660.00 750.00 Reiterates
17 Apr 13 Ashtead Group PLC Jefferies International Buy 655.50 615.00 690.00 Reiterates


N@P building Society.

AHT Ashtead Group PLC looks rather cheapish, forward P/E of just 16.5 2015 falling to P/E 14.9 2016. Ive gone long in another tranche.

AHT Ashtead Group PLC

Ashtead Group PLC


FORECASTS

2015 2016
Date Rec Pre-tax (£) EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax (£) EPS (p) DPS (p)

Panmure Gordon
18-08-14 BUY 430.00 54.50 13.60 510.00 64.70 15.80
Peel Hunt LLP
18-08-14 BUY 435.00 54.37 12.00 499.96 61.32 14.00
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe [R]
07-08-14 BUY 317.30 40.30 4.70
Investec Securities
23-07-14 BUY 450.00 55.27 13.04 500.00 61.42 14.98
Westhouse Securities
19-12-13 BUY
Numis Securities Ltd [R]
10-12-13 ADD 400.20 51.70
Canaccord Genuity Ltd [A]
20-06-13 BUY 333.60 41.90 7.60 389.20 48.70 8.70

2015 2016
Pre-tax (£) EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax (£) EPS (p) DPS (p)

Consensus 438.16 54.70 12.88 499.98 61.37 14.98
1 Month Change -0.21 -0.01 -0.00 0.00 -0.00 0.00
3 Month Change 27.15 2.83 0.44 54.98 5.34 1.48
Notes to forecasts
(04 Sep 2013) A Flag refers to outlook

GROWTH
2014 (A) 2015 (E) 2016 (E)
Norm. EPS 71.94% 32.64% 12.18%
DPS 106.25% 56.06% 16.35%

INVESTMENT RATIOS
2014 (A) 2015 (E) 2016 (E)
EBITDA £668.60m £791.28m £879.98m
EBIT £382.90m £371.20m £m
Dividend Yield 0.90% 1.40% 1.63%
Dividend Cover 5.00x 4.25x 4.10x
PER 22.25x 16.77x 14.95x
PEG 0.31f 0.51f 1.23f
Net Asset Value PS 74.48p p p

AHT ASHTEAD, very sensitive to movements on the DOW. Equipment rental company derives 84 pct of revenues from US.

AHT....... Fifteen analysts cover stock: sentiment bullish with nine "strong buy" and six "buy".

if the premise above is correct, then this one should open significantly higher this morning, especially as $ remains strong against £

It has!

AHT ASHTEAD bouncing off the 200 day EMA, Bullish sign, MACD well oversold.

Dead Cat Bounce or panic over?

more likely DCB all round i'm afraid

Announcement of Q2 Results
Ashtead Group plc announces that its second quarter results for the period
ended 31 October 2014 will be announced on Wednesday, 10 December 2014.