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.

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.

StockMarketWire.com
Ashtead Group posts record first half pre-tax profits of £266.5m - up 33% at constant exchange rates.

Group rental revenues rose by 24% to £895.6m and underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased by 31% to £455.5m as group EBITDA margin improved to 46% (2013: 43%).

Chief executive Geoff Drabble said "We continue to execute on our strategy, focused on organic growth supplemented by bolt-on acquisitions. We invested £588m in capital expenditure and a further £107m on bolt-on acquisitions in the period. Given the profitable growth opportunities evident in our markets, we are increasing our full year guidance for capital expenditure to a range of £925m to £975m.

"Even with these significant levels of investment, we continue to grow responsibly, generating strong returns and maintaining leverage within our stated objectives.

"With both divisions performing well, recovering end markets, and a proven track record of market share gains, we now anticipate a full year result ahead of our previous expectations."

This share has been rewarding for me, but DYOH.

==-=-=-=-=

Holding(s) in Company

PRNW



Ashtead Group plc

20 January 2015

This share has been rewarding for me, but DYOH!

Ashtead Group plc announces it has been advised that on 15 January 2015 Abrams
Bison Investments LLC was interested in a total of 25,350,000 of the Group's
shares (or 5.04% of its share capital).

Enquiries:

Eric Watkins
Company Secretary
020 7726 9700

StockMarketWire.com
Ashtead posts record underlying pre-tax profits of £489.6m for the year to the end of April - up 35% at constant exchange rates.

Rental revenues rose by 24% to £1,837.6m and EBITDA increased by 32% to £1,837.6m.

On a statutory basis, pre-tax profits were up 33% at £473.8m.

Chief executive Geoff Drabble said: "2014/15 was another very successful year for Ashtead. The consistent execution of our well-established strategy focused on organic growth supplemented by bolt-on acquisitions has delivered both excellent financial results and significantly enhanced our geographic footprint and the breadth of the markets we serve.

"Our financial performance speaks for itself with Sunbelt and A-Plant achieving rental revenue growth of 25% and 19% respectively. Underlying Group pre-tax profit rose 35% to £490m and we generated a strong return on investment of 19%.

"We invested £1bn in the rental fleet and £236m on bolt-on acquisitions during the year. We expect to again invest around £1bn in capital expenditure in the coming year and we will continue to open greenfield locations and make bolt-on acquisitions to further broaden our market exposure. This growth will, as always, be undertaken responsibly and we will maintain our leverage at, or below, two times EBITDA.

"Our markets continue to provide both structural and cyclical opportunity. The business model established over recent years has a track record of exploiting these opportunities and we are supported by a strong balance sheet. Therefore the Board looks forward to the medium term with confidence."

Any reason for drop in price today?

3 Dec Investec 1,500.00 Buy
3 Dec Exane BNP... 1,100.00 Neutral
2 Dec Peel Hunt 1,450.00 Buy
24 Nov Jefferies... 1,385.00 Buy
3 Nov Jefferies... 1,385.00 Buy

Not expected