Its come along way since these were a pair of old boots,just bought today mid 280s,spent a few pounds in there of late,so why not!

Strong today.

Barclays upgrades to Overweight TP 450.00p

car parts to bicycles retailer, Halfords , ticked up 2.3 to 329.7p as Panmure Gordon upped its rating to “buy” from “hold

Pre-Close Trading Statement

Key Points For The Quarter

· Cycling LFL revenues increased by +5.7% (Q4 FY11: +8.7%), driven by strong performances in Premium and Children's Bikes
· Retail fitting revenues rose +28.1% as we build on Halfords' unique customer offer. The demand amongst motorists for 'Do It For Me' services continues to grow
· The decline in Car Enhancement revenue worsened, with accelerated falls in both higher-margin Performance Styling and Car Cleaning products
· At 8.0% of total Retail, a disappointing online revenue performance reflected declines in both Sat Nav and Child Safety
· Autocentres' revenue continued to grow strongly, driven by an enhanced recognition of the value offered by the Halfords brand

Thursday May 31 =

- Halfords is hoping that a summer dominated by the Olympics and, one hopes, a sackful of gold medals at the velodrome, will encourage Britain to get cycling. Over the past year, the retailers' bicycles and cycling accessories have only partially offset a pretty dire car market, especially the collapse in sales of satnavs. Analysts are forecasting pre-tax profit of £91m, down from £126m the year before on sales of £750m. The generous dividend of 22p is expected to be held.

Halfords Group plc

Preliminary Results Financial Year 2012



http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4379878

I bet a few people are a bit miffed at the recent extensive buyback!

"The tough economic environment, which particularly impacted motorists, led to a subdued performance in Retail sales and margins in FY12, leading to a decline in Profit Before Tax."

"Retail sales in FY13 have been very disappointing so far. In particular we have not seen the usual seasonal demand for Cycling and Outdoor Leisure products. We believe some of these sales are deferred rather than cancelled, and we expect a stronger performance from these categories as the year progresses. Autocentres continues to grow."

250p now gone - for the brave the yield is pushing 9% at these levels.

I know it means diddly squat, but of the 7 broker updates today there is 1 sell, 4 buys, 1 hold and 1 fair value.

Not pretty!

Barclays and Panmure (posts 61 & 62) have a great deal of egg on their faces, not to mention losses for their clients. However with 14p divi (ex divi 4th July) these look a short term buying opportunity to me @ around 245p. Any thoughts out there?
2517

George - just goes to show the use of broker notes.

These are on my list - TP @230 - as you say Ex dividend soon and a yield @8.95%.

I don't know what their geographic coverage is George, but if it's just the UK then despite the Olympics boost the recovery in SP after the Ex divi day drop could take quite a wile.. assuming it does recover that is. Might be a case of earned income gain but capital lose, short term at least. Just my two penny worth.

Thanks skinny, Stan, much appreciated. I have bought HFD @<246p with the view that there will be buying for the divi in which case a capital gain may result, but if not then the divi is well worth having, notwithstanding the fall in the sp on ex divi date. I'm still kicking myself over VOD they were 170p ish prior to going ex divi (6.47p, I think) they dropped to 164 and look at them since.
2517

Take your pick.

Morgan Stanley Downgrades Underweight Tp reduced from 285p to 125p.


Barclays Capital reiterates its Overweight Tp 385p

Kicked off nicely for me last week, with the downgrade from MS outweighing the overweight from BC, the sp has dropped a fair bit today.
2517

12 month low is 233.50p.

I know why it's dropped.........I, like 2517 bought in at 250 for the rise to div date....sorry chaps.,.

.

Just bought in @229.75p