Would anyone know why there has been such a large number of shares sold and no buying? Is there something we are not aware of?

agree 100p has to be a long term target- thats if they have not received a bid by then?-

Limited press coverage L, was just looking at similar companys in Costains sector and Carillion who are a slightly larger Costain, in some respects, are rated at 15x, so 100p puts Cost on a par with their peers imo, could be absorbed by Carillion!!! at a premium.

Gut feeling, Cost will be taken out at 135p!!

i'd settle for that!.

some decent buys this am- ratio 3 to 1 in favour of buyers. so far!.

Price is being held back!! expect some movement later, 60p breakout L, heading to 70P!!

still being held!?- positive day on the buying front about 730k v 200k!.

held back AGAIN - 1.8m buys v 98k sells. still frustrating.

They will need to find some sellers soon, presumably they were them at 56.5p, we shall see, it'll take a while I'm sure to get to 70p! it's coming though.

Looks like we have a new level! 55p solid from here

Patience my boy!

LIZ, YOU GONE ON YOUR HOLIDAYS!

ellio, sold stake in cost - want to take more risk. but think this is a decent stock with encouraging med /long term potential. i like the look of goo and have increased holding!.

Somebody took a few today with a buy of 550k
Slowly but surely up to 75p by next results I suspect

Peter

Think we'll see it sooner than tht Pj!!

My bet is a break of 60p soon, before working to 70p by May, now there's optimism, if we get a big contact announcement along the way or some news, 75p easy, 2-3 months max

Pj, am expecting 100p+ for cost.

tapping on the 60p door.

tapping on the 60p door.

there are plenty of more clever peeps than i who frequent this site, who may (dis)agree with me, but from what i can see, this company looks to be well undervalued ..... though i am sure it will not provide the fireworks of some of the commodity stocks, i have been more than happy to top up my holding just now.

my recommendation assuredly will not meet the approval of some who have the patience and brains to research in depth, but would be more than happy to hear more

Costain is solid!! great value long-term, as you say steady as she goes don't expect the fireworks, I have a new short term target of 65p, 3-6 months

Results fairly soon I think??
Anyone know the dates and can post them here, thanks.

Peter

From the "iii" board
=======================================

Costain
Target price and estimates up on back of more focused strategy
We have raised our share price target by 13% from 54p to 61p, taken the
recommendation from Add to Buy and nudged up our underlying
estimates in the wake of the recent interim results. Although these
involved hefty closure costs and restructuring losses, we believe the
group is more focused and lower risk than in the recent past.
Our target is a 20% discount to our sum of the parts - a prudent view taken as a
result of the H1 losses and the relatively weak balance sheet. But we are likely
to narrow this over time if the group avoids further disappointments.
It involves, in our view, fairly undemanding multiples based on our estimated
normalised margins and a 30% tax rate (see below). The 45m PFI valuation is
probably low in the light of the recent Carillion disposal.
The target equates to a 2006 P/E of 12.9x, falling to 11.5x for 2007 and 10.0x for
2008 - low against peers even given the recent (temporary in our view) breach of
Ebitda multiple banking covenant.
We have increased our 2006 pre-exceptional PBT by 2.4% from 21.2m to
21.7m (assuming now that the 3.5m PFI gain is underlying not exceptional)
and by 1.3% for 2007 (see below). We have pushed the start of dividend
payments to 2007.
We have been impressed by the more focused strategy brought in by new CE
Andrew Wyllie and FD Tony Bickerstaff, both from Taylor Woodrow
Construction. The emphasis has been on working in fewer sectors and with
better quality clients in Civil Engineering and Building as well as attempting to
overhaul the risk structure. The first act has been the bold move of summarily
closing the loss-making International division (previously a Costain "sacred cow"
in our view) and a commitment to closely monitor the loss making but, in our
view, sound Oil & Gas engineering business. Orders in the ongoing business
were up 19% at the half year, indicating solid demand.

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