Highway Insurance Share Discussion Threads

[pdyke14856] 26/11/2002 15:52

Another £1/2 buys again so far today and the bid is close to 40p.
Trading should be in the range of 40-45p next week and to be honest I think we're going to get a 12month high next week.

[techair] 26/11/2002 13:06

Ready to move again?

[techair] 26/11/2002 11:47

J O HAMBRO CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED are pretty confident - 17% holding

[techair] 26/11/2002 08:22

Ashley - no probs

[pdyke14856] 26/11/2002 00:19

Correct good divvy. Low PE. Premiums to increase over the next year. Directors buying!!!! No brainer.
I've just topped up as well. These 250000 buys either director or stake building. Its not going to be a rollercoaster but if you want 6.5% return via dividend over a year and with at least 10-15% growth in the share price - you're looking at a nice gradual rise so pop them in a pep, ease them in an Isa - MONEY IN THE BANK. All IMO of course :-)

[pdyke14856] 26/11/2002 00:01

Im toying with the idea as well. It has been consistently steady and I think the new trading range in the short-term will be somewhere between 40-45. Not an explosive stock but to be honest Im happy to have something a little stable sometimes.
Bit of a no brainer really. BUY IMO.

[mr ashley james] 25/11/2002 18:16

Techair,

Good call

Cheers

Ash

[mart] 25/11/2002 16:30

Yep, I'm in. Looks promising.

[techair] 25/11/2002 16:23

Merrills moving this one up again - nice to see them bidding it up. Seem to rule the roost on this stock.

[techair] 25/11/2002 16:07

DKIA - Hey nice to have someone else on board.

[dontknowitall] 25/11/2002 15:53

Thanks for the tip. Just bought some.

[techair] 25/11/2002 15:10

Decent volume again today and MLSB now moved on to bid

[bucketfull] 25/11/2002 14:59

1.3 million buy just went through - excellent, a shade over 1/2 million £.

[bucketfull] 25/11/2002 11:57

Hope so - just topped up!!

[pdyke14856] 25/11/2002 11:53

I would not be surprised to see a few director buys going in here over the next week or so.IMO.

[bucketfull] 25/11/2002 11:34

And another £97.5K buy already today... and another one too!!

[goodgrief] 23/11/2002 00:34

Citywire comment :-

The executive chairman of motor insurer Highway Holdings has taken his maiden holding in his company, which was recently targeted by activist investor JO Hambro.


Ross Dunlop paid £48,100 on Wednesday for his first 130,000 shares in the company at 37p per share. He was named executive chairman in July this year after serving as non-executive deputy chairman since his appointment in April. Before that he served on the board of UK Insurance, a subsidiary of Green Flag.

Highway has transformed itself recently. It changed its name from Ockham Holdings (OCK) in October. It has also withdrawn from the Lloyd's insurance market to concentrate on motor insurance under a new management team. The new team hopes to take advantage of rising premiums in the insurance sector.

On Wednesday Highway said trading had been strong since its 5 September interims and its simplified 'Highway Choice' product range has been received enthusiastically. However it is withdrawing financial support for NMT, which offers software and IT packages for Insurance brokers. It will seek fresh finance elsewhere.

The result is an exceptional charge of £10 million in the full year results against Highway's entire investment in NMT. This will reduce Highway's net assets per share by 5p.

Since the middle of September Highway has attracted the attention of activist investor Chris Mills and JO Hambro fund management company where he is chief investment officer. The North Atlantic Smaller Companies investment trust (NAS), Oryx International Growth fund (OIG) and Hambro itself bumped their collective holding up to 32.8 million shares from mid-September to mid-October. The holding is equivalent to 16.4% of the £73.6 million company.

Highway's share price has been a slow mover since sipping to 34.5p in mid-September, yesterday it added 1.5p to hit 38p. At this level it is valued at only 5.7 times its expected earnings of 6.59p per share for the full year, although this may now be knocked by the exceptional charge. It also offers a hefty 6.5% dividend yield which is safely covered more than 2.7 times.

Several other shrewd investors have been attracted to Highway as many fund managers try to cash in on what they think will be a boom time for specialist and Lloyds insurers with premiums on the rise.

Among Highway's are John Dodd, who holds 3.3% through the Hansa Trust (FSB) , Patrick Evershed who holds 3 million shares in the New Star Select Opportunities unit trust and Carl Stick whose Rathbone Special Situations unit trust has a shade less than 870,000 shares.

[bucketfull] 22/11/2002 15:29

Couple of large buys today, I see, £57K and £95K. Nice.

[pdyke14856] 21/11/2002 14:39

Typically I am amazed to find that we started three threads on the same day and without me checking first :-). Though not all of us have premium!

[pdyke14856] 21/11/2002 14:36

As (OCK) have recently changed their name and there isnt a thread for Highway I will start the ball rollinh.

Highway is company I have followed for the past few years, previously Ockham Holdings(OCK) it recently changed it's name.

It has been a steady stock, with historically a low PE and has always paid a good dividend. As (OCK) it was previously hit by the increase in Ambulance Chasers a few years ago and dividends were suspended for a period as they re-structured.

With Car insurance premiums to increase over the last 12 months, presently a low PE, good maintened dividend of over 6% and now director purchases HWY should hopefully be a good steady performer for the future.

[techair] 21/11/2002 10:40

Ursus - yes glad they got rid of that NMT investment. Some chunky trades coming thru now.

[ursus] 21/11/2002 10:34

director's buy should help.....

[bucketfull] 21/11/2002 10:25

Good to see director buying fifty grands worth today too... and what looks like another £185K buy just posted!!

[factsonly] 21/11/2002 08:12

That was a good announcement on 20/11/02.
Not only have they cut a investment costs to NMT (although this reduces to NAV to around 37.2p per share... which is still higher than the current share price!), but HWY has also reduced the HQ cost base (relocation to cheaper site), receiving more business electronically (dealing with it more quickly and with less resources) and the simpler products seems to be quite popular. Roll on 2003!!!