Premier Foods
Shares in Premier Foods (LSE: PFD) have been up over 10% at times today, with the purchase of £25,000 of shares by Commercial Director, Ian Deste, seeming to have had a positive impact on sentiment.
Of course, as the recent interim results showed, Premier Foods continues to be squeezed by the supermarket price war. Furthermore, its debt levels remain alarmingly high, both of which are key reasons why shares in the company have fallen by 73% in 2014.
However, with interest rates set to remain low over the medium term, Premier Foods’ financial gearing may not signal the end of the company. And, with a strong stable of brands, it could prove to be a surprise performer – especially if wage rises begin to exceed inflation. This could take place next year and cause shoppers to return to their favourite brands, which would be great news for Premier Foods.
InterContinental Hotels
After a strong set of interim results, InterContinental Hotels (LSE: IHG) (NYSE: IHG.US) has seen an uplift in sentiment and, today, is the top performer in the FTSE 100 due to it being up 2.5%.
However, there could be much more to come from the international hotel operator. That’s because the company’s bottom line is expected to grow by an impressive 13% next year. This is roughly twice the wider market growth rate and is perhaps unsurprising, given that the company is experiencing growth in all four of the regions in which it operates.
While a price to earnings (P/E) ratio of 20.7 may put off a lot of investors, a price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio of 1.5 shows that shares in the company still offer growth at a reasonable price. As such, InterContinental Hotels could continue to post strong gains moving forward.
Charles Taylor
Despite Charles Taylor’s (LSE: CTR) CEO, David Marock, selling £800,000 of shares in the company just last week, it is one of the top risers in the FTSE All-Share, being up 6% today.
Of course, this follows a set of half-year results last week that showed Charles Taylor is making steady, if unspectacular, progress. Clearly, the strength of sterling hit the company’s top and bottom lines, while a benign claims environment did little to help its adjusting services division.
Despite this, other divisions (notably management services) performed well and Charles Taylor seems to be on-track to grow its bottom line by 4% in the current year and by a further 9% next year. With shares in the company trading on a P/E ratio of just 11.7, they seem to offer above-average growth prospects at a below-average valuation. As a result, they could continue to perform well.