Wednesday tips round-up: Hargreaves Services, Hilton Food, Ashmore...

15th Sep 2010 06:54

The three main growth areas for Hargreaves are niche coal supplies in Europe, renewable power and the development of the Tower Colliery in Wales, bought by the miners in 1995 after it was closed down. Tower is to reopen in the spring, the coal extracted over seven years and the site then redeveloped. The shares are selling on six times this year's earnings and at some stage will make the jump to the big boys' club. Worth tucking away for the longer term if you can lay your hands on any, says the Times.Meat-packing specialist Hilton Food sold 11% more in volume terms in the first half of this financial year, taking the company's total output to nearly 103,000 tonnes. There is also strong future promise, with a new facility in Denmark on track to begin production in 2011 as planned. The stock is already far higher than the pre-recession boom of 223p in mid-2008. And there is further to go. Buy says the Independent.Last year was an undeniably turbulent one in financial markets and fund manager Ashmore's strong performance will not necessarily be repeated. Most analysts' forecasts have Ashmore shares on a little more than 15 times this year's core earnings, a slight premium to the sector. Hold says the Times.The specialist fund manager is trading on 16.8 times estimated 2011 earnings, according to broker KBC, which added that the results back up the 30 per cent share lift over the quarter. Buy adds the Independent.Oxford Instruments' latest update sent the share price soaring 17% to 433p. At this level, the shares have more than doubled since the beginning of this year and almost tripled since the start of 2009. Oxford now expects pre-tax profits of £10m in its first half to end-September. This is the highest that analysts can remember, even though it reflects some reduction in the company's traditional weighting towards the second half. The shares, on analysts' latest upgrades, are on almost 15 times earnings and are probably due a rest. But they remain a long-term hold says the Times.Brokers reckons that if consensus earnings rise in line with their hopes Oxford - at 368p - would end up on a price-earnings multiple of just over 12 times. The problem is that yesterday it swung past 430p. Hold says the Independent.The announcement from Centamin Egypt that there had been more "trouble at t'mill" was disappointing. The shares are trading on a June 2011 earnings multiple of 15.1 times, falling to 11.9 next year. A hold until confirmation that processing issues have been rectified, suggests the Telegraph.BAE shares are trading on a December 2010 earnings multiple of 7.7 compared with Lockheed on 9.4 and Northrop on 8.6. The yield on BAE shares is 5.1%, compared with 3.7% at Lockheed and 6.1% for Northrop. The valuation still looks compelling from a value point of view and the shares remain a buy says the Telegraph.Please note: Digital Look provides a round-up of news, tips and information that is impacting share prices and the market. Digital Look cannot take any responsibility for information provided by third parties. This is for your general information only as not intended to be relied upon by users in making an investment decision or any other decision. Please obtain a copy of the relevant publication and carry out your own research before considering acting on any of this information.