Sage Share Discussion Threads

[zyzzyva] 13/5/2012 13:36

been looking at this one.... seems to be lots of fear about.... could it be a good time to buy? dividend up 30%, revenues growing 2% in difficult times, very strong cash flow and no debt..... even the analysts with sells recommendations admit its a good business.... hmmm

[miata] 03/4/2012 10:07

02/04/12 Buyback 550,000 shares H 300.2 L 296.0 Av 298.7p.

[miata] 02/4/2012 19:58

Sage has appointed Deutsche Bank AG to manage an irrevocable buy-back programme during its close period. The buy-back programme will start today (2 April) and will run up to the announcement of the interim results on 9 May 2012.

[shuisky] 28/2/2012 20:41

Sage is a very interesting stock. Above all, because they could utilise their dominance with accounting software and shift into the cloud. This would increase ROI and cash flows accordingly. There is an article on it here...





...which discusses what Intuit (US) have done and how Sage might follow them. The potential is there, but I would want to see hoe aggressively Sage are pursuing it first.

[miata] 22/2/2012 10:36

They've always been too cheap.

[trader steve] 22/1/2012 17:54

Another long signal given on SGE this week, and price just surpassing early 2011 high. Good luck to all holders.

Steve

[fugwit] 18/1/2012 09:58

Surprisingly quiet on here given the technical outlook.

[fugwit] 17/1/2012 10:21

Looks like we might finally break through that overhead resistance today. I am looking for 380 from here. Good luck all.

[valedo] 12/1/2012 13:24

ah, yes those were the days when huge profits.....and losses ....were made!
don't think we'll see them flying that high for years if ever.

[miata] 10/1/2012 09:43

Good to see it off the floor, to me flying would be nearer the 800p it reached in June 2000.

[valedo] 06/1/2012 13:50

missed the boat here. sge flying

[miata] 30/11/2011 11:42

Panmure

Final results feature a massive increase in the dividend to 9.75p – way ahead
of our top of the range estimate of 8.9p. In addition cash flow remains strong,
the company is adding new customers, there is continued growth in the
subscriptions, and the European margins surprised at 29% Adjusted EBITA
(we had expected 24.5%).

What's not to like – well, to be frank, the outlook statement is more guarded than we expected – it flags up a range of 'macro' worries and this will make for a subdued share price. For 2011A we were ahead of consensus – and results are a shade better than expected; for 2012E we are a shade below consensus and we make another downward revision this morning – however, strong Euro margins result in an increase to our EPS from 20.5p to 20.6p.

Shares remain attractively valued P/E 13.4x but even after the step change the dividend yield is only 3.8% (i.e. investors can get better yields elsewhere). Our gripe Sage needs to do a more convincing job on growth. We retain our ongoing Buy recommendation as we nudge up our price target from 326p to 333p.

[nellie1973] 31/10/2011 16:55

Broker upgrade today

[lyntwyn] 27/7/2011 09:49

DJ Sage Group Sees FY In Line With Views, Positioned For Future Growth

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Sage Group PLC (SGE.LN), a global supplier of business management software and related products and services, said Wednesday that it has continues to deliver good growth in the business and anticipate that full year results will be in line with the Board's expectations, adding that the company is well positioned for future growth.

MAIN FACTS:

-The Group` s cash generation remains strong and net debt fell to GBP67 million at June 30 compared with GBP106 million at March 31

-The company is focused on managing cost base carefully.

-Shares closed Tuesday at 277 pence, valuing the company at GBP3.67 billion.

-By Razak Musah Baba, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9275; [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 27, 2011 02:16 ET (06:16 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

[lyntwyn] 29/5/2011 10:28

Sage mulls health sale
Analysts expect the healthcare division, which provides back-office systems to American doctors' surgeries, to be valued at about $500m
One of Britain's largest software developers has launched a review of its struggling healthcare division that is expected to lead to the sale of the business.

Sage, a FTSE 100 firm that is best known for book-keeping programs used by millions of small businesses, will make a final decision this summer. It has yet to appoint an investment bank to lead a disposal.

Analysts expect the healthcare division, which provides back-office systems to American doctors' surgeries, to be valued at about $500m (£300m).

An exit would mark the first strategic move by Guy Berruyer, the Frenchman who became Sage's chief executive last October. He is keen to sell underperforming businesses and tune up the group's capabilities in cloud computing applications and payment software.

However, there is a chance Sage will opt to keep the business and invest in it. Healthcare provided a lone blackspot in Sage's half-year results this month. It reported all of its regions had returned to growth for the first time in a year as its 6m-strong base of small and medium-sized firms began loosening their purse strings.

Its North American arm, where underlying sales rose 1%, would have done better but for a 5% decline in healthcare. Berruyer believes the division will improve in the second half thanks to the money President Barack Obama is pouring into the sector. A disposal would unpick Sage's largest acquisition, of Emdeon Practice Services, which cost $565m in 2006.

[ronjen] 12/5/2011 15:28

From 11/5 Market Report:
Demand for Sage Group stock soared yesterday amid speculation that an overseas predator was lining up a £6bn bid approach.
Hopes for further deals in the software sector have been fuelled by a recent approach – thought to be from a US buyout firm – for Micro Focus International.
Another UK mid-cap, Misys, has also been talked up this week as a potential merger candidate.
Traders heard rumours of a 450p-plus approach for Sage, up 10.25p to 296p. US giant Oracle and Germany's SAP were tipped as likely suitors.

450p would be nice!

[lyntwyn] 11/5/2011 13:42

Rumours of Oracle interest in Sage raise eyebrows as well as share price

The rumour spread like a brush fire:Sage was the latest target for Oracle, Larry Ellison's software company.

The Newcastle-based accountancy software specialist was chased as high as 299½p before settling a more modest 10¼p better at 296p.

After 70 acquisitions, including Sun Microsystems, owner of the Java code to write web applications, and Peoplesoft, an enterprise software company that rivals Germany's SAP, Oracle has a well-earned reputation for regularly swallowing large rivals.

Yet the gut feeling among those purporting to be more familiar with technology companies was that a move for Sage made little sense.

Oracle buys technology, not customers, they argued. And besides, Sage's customers, predominantly small and medium-sized businesses, do not sit comfortably with Oracle's wider range of generally much larger customers.

Microsoft, Oracle's only bigger rival, has been linked with Sage in the past. So, too, have SAP and Intuit, a close American rival.

Others suggested that with Sage under new management and Bain Capital widely rumoured to be sniffing around the legacy computing specialist Micro Focus, private equity interest would be more natural.

Regardless of the substance of this particular Sage yarn, the technology sector has been a popular subject for takeover speculation of late.
todays Times

[mechanical trader] 08/4/2011 12:18

Two Broker BUY notes out late yesterday........ trading on a P/E to the year end of just over 13 way too cheap imo.

Sage Group (The) PLC

FORECASTS 2011 2012
Date Rec Pre-tax (£) EPS (p) DPS (p) Pre-tax (£) EPS (p) DPS (p)

Panmure Gordon
07-04-11 BUY 382.00 20.60 8.58 409.00 22.00 9.44

WestLB
07-04-11 BUY 20.11 8.20 21.24 8.70

[mechanical trader] 28/3/2011 14:52

SGE SAGE looks set for a recovery and return to recent highs. The long term chart shows a nice uptrtend channel in place with the share price having bounced of the trendfloor and now looking to head for the ceiling at around 310p.

Long Term Chart.



Short Term Chart...

[miata] 05/2/2011 13:46

Sage goes XD on Wednesday, pay 5.22p on 11th March.

[nellie1973] 03/2/2011 13:55

Tipped in press today

[ronjen] 02/12/2010 18:12

2/12/10 Close:
Sage Group (SGE) 289.00p +6.64%

Accountancy firm Sage finished the day well after analysts worked over yesterday's figures and like what they found. In the medium term, broker Nomura expects margins moving towards the late 20s, and sees a substantial improvement in earnings growth going into 2012.

Broker's View:

Sage's subscription revenue growth has led Nomura to expect solid execution next year from the blue chip accountancy software firm.

Sage reported "robust subscription revenues growing at 3%" in the second half versus the broker's expectation of 1%. Nomura notes that a growth of around 4% is achievable in 2011.

In the medium term, the broker expects margins moving towards the late 20s, and sees a substantial improvement in earnings growth going into 2012.

A target of 295p is confirmed, along with a 'buy' rating.