LONDON -- Having closed today at 6,374 points, the FTSE 100 (INDEX: ^FTSE) an a month ago, on May 22. Still, at least the recent downtrend seems to have halted, and there is a real prospect that we'll see new highs again in the coming months.
But some companies are hitting new highs as we speak. Here are three from the various indexes breaking new ground.
Homeserve (HSV +0.00%)
Homeserve, which provides home emergency and support services, saw its shares climb to a 52-week high of 290 pence today, taking them up nearly 90% on the year so far. The firm issued a profit warning in March, which sent the share price falling. But results released in May were better than expected, and we have seen the price soar since then.
The firm expects to return to "modest growth" for the year to March 2015, and a currently forecast 20% fall in earnings per share for the current year puts the shares on a P/E of 16. And while shareholders are waiting for that growth, there should be a dividend of about 4% to tide them over.
Spirit Pub (LSE: SPRT)
Shares in Spirit Pub Company ended on a 52-week closing high yesterday of 69.75 pence, though today they fell back a bit to close at 68 pence. It's been a very good 12 months, with the share price up 40% after the year to August 2012 brought home a 20% rise in earnings per share.
There should be more to come, too, with forecasts for this year suggesting a further 11% boost to EPS and a 3% dividend yield. And even after a good year of price growth, the shares are still on a modest forward P/E of 11, dropping to 10 based on 2014 forecasts.
Hilton Food (HFG +1.42%)
Our third high for today is Hilton Food Group, whose shares have risen by 50% over the past year, touching on a 52-week high of 369.75 pence for three days in a row now. The specialist meat-packing business had a pretty flat year to December 2012, with EPS up only 1%.
But for this year, the City is predicting a 6% rise coupled with a 3.6% dividend yield, and that puts the shares on a P/E of 14 -- pretty much bang on the long-term FTSE average. Forecasts for 2014 are even better, dropping the P/E to 12.5.
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