National Grid Share Discussion Threads

[ferrism] 22/5/2012 13:10

Only those who wish to convert capital into income.

[phillis] 22/5/2012 12:52

on the contrary you would expect it to go up as people buy for the divi

[ferrism] 21/5/2012 15:07

Because on the day it goes xd the dividend disappears from the share price.

[mj19] 21/5/2012 10:32

why isnt this flying with big divi date coming

[bountyhunter] 18/5/2012 10:55

me also, sold far too early!

[dr biotech] 17/5/2012 16:01

Wish I'd bought more of these last year and less insurers that have taken a pounding. Had the CEO on R5 this morning - optimistic looking forward and thought the UK needed a secure, low carbon source of energy. He wasn't so forthcoming on exactly what mix of nuclear/wind/tidal that would be.

Happy to hold these long term.

[beardmore] 17/5/2012 11:00

I'm happy to continue a very long term hold although I would like to see NG out of the USA.

[skinny] 17/5/2012 07:02

Good performance in 2011/12
· Profit before tax1 up 5%
· Operating profit1 up 9% before currency movements, timing and major US storms2
· Continued UK outperformance
· Improved US returns - 2011 regulated return on equity up 50bp to 8.8%
· Earnings per share1 up 1% to 51.3p, up 16% excluding timing and major storm impacts
· Recommended full year dividend up 8% to 39.28p reflecting final year of current policy

Good strategic progress
· £3.4bn of capital investment, contributing to £1.6bn growth in regulated assets
· Submitted new 8 year UK investment plans, including over £31bn of forecast capital investment
· Agreed one year rollover price control for UK transmission activities
· Implemented new US operating model. $200m run rate cost reduction target achieved
· Submitted new rate filings in upstate New York and Rhode Island in April 2012
· Balance sheet benefitted from strong cash generation and small asset disposals. As a result, net debt up only £0.9bn to £19.6bn

Positive outlook for 2012/13
· Sustain focus on improving returns and securing appropriate regulatory outcomes
· Dividend growth of 4% targeted in new one year policy

[miata] 11/5/2012 17:52

Today's high 684p. 08/01/08 high 866.5p (equivalent to 756p post 2for5 at 335p rights issue).

[skinny] 11/5/2012 15:13

New high today (so far) - 682.5p

[pattayaboy] 08/5/2012 12:35

In for sure heafty profits

[lord gnome] 08/5/2012 11:23

Nice run-up into next week's final results. Do I hold over results day or trade out in advance? Decisions, decisions.

[skinny] 08/5/2012 08:17

Post rights issue high hit today - 675p.

[pattayaboy] 24/4/2012 13:08

Agree this one will fly now.

[lord gnome] 24/4/2012 13:06

Nice chart breakout. Onwards and upwards. 700 next stop.

[skinny] 24/4/2012 12:46

Morgan Stanley Ugrades to Overweight TP raised from 585p to 725p

[skinny] 24/4/2012 12:03

Quietly hitting new 12+ month highs today.

[pip_uk] 12/4/2012 16:29

Cor blimey, last post 3 years ago how time flies.
Just bought back in today after seeing their excellent update.
Too much news to post separately take a look at the website.

[lennonsalive] 20/3/2012 10:35

One downgrades and another up....

Utilities peers National Grid and United Utilities were also being helped higher by upgrades from HSBC and Nomura, respectively.

[onlyonestorm] 19/3/2012 23:28

fuming fred,

Take a look at "tara's" SIPP thread



Might help!

Stormy

[kiwi2007] 19/3/2012 16:25

M/L view on NG.

Though the NG. downgrade is largely on valuation.
BE
During the last year, National Grid has gained 29% and outperformed the wider
sector by 34%, largely due to its defensive characteristics and emerging clarity on
regulation and dividend safety. The shares have continued to outperform the
sector YTD and having now broken through our 640p Price Objective, we think
the shares may mark time until the next catalysts begin to appear towards the
end of the year. Progress in the RIIO regulatory review of the UK business has
been encouraging so far, and we continue to believe that the final outcome due in
December will be acceptable. Nevertheless, the initial proposals due in July are
unlikely to represent the regulator's best offer, and we cannot preclude some
uncertainty. We anticipate that in January 2013 management ought to be able to
commit to a longer term dividend growth policy and outline options for medium
term funding. Successful rehabilitation of the US business could add at least
another 50p to our valuation, although this too could take until 2013 to crystallize.
We still consider National Grid a core sector holding, and move our rating from
Buy to Neutral following the strong performance.


from ftalphaville...

[kiwi2007] 19/3/2012 16:24

M/L Sector view

Sector earnings have been cut by close to 5% for 2013 and leverage has
deteriorated further this results season. So it is no surprise to us that the sector is
among the worst performers YTD. With almost 10% earnings cuts LTM, we think
consensus will stabilise for 2012/2013 but still needs to fall for 2014/2015 by at
least 5%. Consensus expectations for a recovery are in our view not supported by
fundamentals. Upcoming dividend payments and the lack of more bad news may
offer short-term support, but long term fundamentals remain weak and valuation
indicators do not appear attractive enough in our view to make a value call.
BE
Fundamentals are weak and show no signs of relief. Spreads are low in Spain
and UK, and could deteriorate further in Germany and Italy. Demand is weak and
attempts by the EU to push up CO2 prices have remained timid. We have seen a
deterioration of most indicators LTM, and do not see a recovery any time soon. In
addition, capex is low, leverage too high and cost of financing will likely continue
to rise. The only positive is a continued expectation of normalising earnings in
downstream gas activities by 2013. On aggregate, we expect a poor earnings
outlook with +4% annual EPS growth between 2012 and 2015 – well below the
rest of the market and making low near-term sector multiples unattractive.
BE
We show in this report that after halving to 11.7% over the last 3 years the sector
ROE will likely recover by 150 bps by 2015, mainly driven by regulated and
French water names. Integrated utilities will only see a modest improvement. We
believe that current P/B ratios overvalue companies like RWE, Iberdrola, Fortum,
CEZ and Centrica, where ROE will be under pressure over the next 4 years. We
view the discount to book on Enel, Endesa and EDF as fully justified for now. We
think Veolia and Gas Natural appear as the most undervalued and see GDF, SEV
and E.ON presenting growing ROE profiles, lower leverage and regulatory risks.