International Consolidated Airlines Grp (LON:IAG)
International Consolidated Airlines Grp (LON:IAG) is the company formed from the merger of British Airways and Iberian. A company like IAG is notoriously cyclical. When the economy is doing well, it is more likely that families will holiday and businesses will spend on premium travel.
While Spain and Portugal may be struggling, the U.K. economy is picking up. The softer oil price is another positive.
In the last 12 months, shares in IAG have almost doubled. So far this year, they are up more than 50%.
The shares do not look cheap against earnings forecasts for 2013. However, the expectation for 2014 is EPS of around 0.32 euros. That puts the shares on a 2014 P/E of just 10.3.
Whitbread plc (LON:WTB)
Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) is the company behind Premier Inn and the Costa Coffee chain. The success of Costa has been one of the main reasons for Whitbread’s recent success. There are now 1,578 Costa stores in the U.K. — more than Starbucks.
The success of Premier and Costa has delivered huge profit increases at Whitbread. In the last five years, EPS has increased at an average rate of 11.4% a year. In that time, the dividend has risen at an average rate of 9.8%.
More growth is expected from Whitbread this year and next. Using consensus EPS and dividend forecasts for 2014, the shares are today trading on a P/E of 15.7 with a prospective yield of 2.4%.
Shire PLC (ADR) (NASDAQ:SHPG)
Shares in pharmaceutical Shire PLC (ADR) (NASDAQ:SHPG) are up 15% so far this year and now stand within touching distance of an all-time high.
The most recent stage of the company’s growth has been delivered by its Attention Deficit Disorder treatment Vyvanse. Sales of this drug delivered around half of the company’s revenues in the first quarter of 2013.
Analysts are forecasting big earnings and dividend growth at Shire this year and next. Shire is expected to deliver record profits in 2013 and a 68% EPS increase. That is forecast to be matched with a 27% dividend rise. Growth is expected to moderate in 2014, with EPS rising “just”13% and the dividend by 17%.
That puts the shares on a 2014 P/E of just 13.2.
While the estimates put Shire on a very low forecast yield of less than 1%, there are still some great yield plays elsewhere in the sector. Don’t just take my word for it: Top income fund manager Neil Woodford is a big fan of pharma.
The article 10 FTSE 100 Shares Trading Near 52-Week Highs originally appeared on Fool.com.
David O’Hara owns shares in Lloyds Banking Group but none of the other shares mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Shire.
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