Market demand for Tatton Asset Management (LSE: TAM) was unchanged in Tuesday business following the release of half-year trading numbers.
The financial services star therefore remains locked at recent two-month highs following a stellar run in the lead-up to today’s release. And I would not be surprised to see it resume its upward path in the very near future.
Tatton, which provides on-platform discretionary fund management (or DFM) and IFA support services, advised that trading came in line with expectations between April and September. At its on-platform DFM division funds under management stood at £4.44bn at the end of the period, up from £3.85bn six months earlier.
The result prompted chief executive Paul Hogarth to declare: “This growth is further evidence of the increasing demand for a low cost DFM service to the mass affluent market place served by the IFA sector, which the group is ideally placed to capitalise on.”
The Cheshire-based business has witnessed terrific fund inflows at a run-rate exceeding £80m per month, although the performance of its DFM division was not the only cause for celebration. Indeed, member numbers at Tatton’s Paradigm Partners IFA services arm increased to 356 IFA businesses as of September from 352 in March. And at Paradigm Mortgage Services the number of mortgage firms swelled to 1,143.
Dividends dancing higher?
Against this backcloth it is hardly a shock to find brokers predicting great earnings growth at Tatton in the present year and beyond.
For the period concluding March 2018 the firm is predicted to deliver earnings growth of 6%, and surging business flows are expected to drive growth to 19% in fiscal 2019. I reckon a forward P/E ratio of 20.4 times is fair value given the serious momentum seen across Tatton’s operations.
And there is a lot for dividend seekers to sink their teeth into, these predictions of meaty profits expansion being predicted to feed into very-healthy yields. An anticipated 6.5p per share dividend for this year yields a terrific 3.5%, while a projected 7.8p dividend for 2019 yields 4.1%.
Gobble up Greencore
I also reckon those seeking hot dividend expansion could do a lot worse than check out Greencore (LSE: GNC).
City analysts are expecting earnings to have fallen 2% in the period ending September 2017, although this is not predicted to have put paid to Greencore’s progressive dividend policy — a reward of 5.9p is currently anticipated, up from 5.47p last year.
And assisted by an anticipated return to earnings expansion in the current year (an 11% increase is projected), shareholder rewards are expected to rise to 6.3p. As a result the yield clocks in at a decent 3.4%.
Greencore continues to witness solid demand growth in both the UK and US, with the ‘Food To Go’ foods segment driving business at home, and recent acquisition activity Stateside boosting revenues there. As a result sales on a pro forma basis popped 11.8% higher during quarter three of the last fiscal year, to £636.5m.
I reckon Greencore is a great pick right now given its impressive sales outlook, and particularly in light of its ultra-low forward P/E ratio of 10.8 times.