After nearly two decades of interviewing executives from businesses across the market cap scale from minnows to FTSE 100 firms you get a sense when someone is looking to ramp up their prospects beyond any level of credibility to inflate their share price and when someone is prepared to let the story speak for itself. There's nothing wrong with being an enthusiastic advocate for your business...

Fit Out activity tops forecasts Construction unit also ahead Shares hit new all-time high Infrastructure and construction services group Morgan Sindall (MGNS) continues to exceed expectations, with the firm revealing today trading since the start of May has been better than forecast. The shares gained 550p or 14% to a new all-time high of £43.90, sending them to the top of the FTSE 250 leader...

Companies which sit in the middle of the market capitalisation range, represented in the UK by the FTSE 250 index, by definition have the potential to become the next large-cap leaders. Unlike small caps, mid caps are big enough to have built a stable business supported by a strong balance sheet, but in contrast to large caps, still have the potential to grow for decades to come. The problem...

These days it seems as though every company and their dog are buying back shares, if the morning flood of RNS (regulatory news service) announcements is anything to go by. Out of 300-odd news stories each day from 7am, by our reckoning over a third are 'transaction in own shares'. Although it remains to be seen whether that trend will continue in the face of market turbulence. Notably Tesco...

European stocks traded higher at midday Tuesday, with FTSE 250-listed construction firm Morgan Sindall among the winners as it noted an acceleration in trading momentum.The FTSE 100 index was up 58.37 points, 0.7%, at 8,696.29. The FTSE 250 was up 134.42 points, 0.7%, at 20,056.85, and the AIM All-Share was up 6.30 points, 0.9%, at 695.45.The Cboe UK 100 was 0.6% higher at 869.80, the Cboe UK...

Computacenter director offloads £13 million of stockMoonpig boss in £2.47 million saleMorgan Sindall CEO sells 449,080 sharesA person closely associated with Computacenter (CCC) non-executive director Peter Ogden sold 562,284 shares at £23.12 for a total value of £13 million on 30 October.These ordinary shares have been sold to trusts of which the beneficiaries are members of the Ogden...

Profit seen 'materially' above budgetDemand for refurbished offices strongShares rally 14% to record highInvestors in construction and building services group Morgan Sindall (MGNS) had plenty of reasons to be cheerful after the firm raised its profit forecast for the year to December thanks to better-than-expected trading in its Fit-Out business.The shares ? a running Great Idea ? leapt 460p...

Morgan Sindall (MGNS)Price: £23.52Market Cap: £1.09 billionInfrastructure, affordable housing and urban regeneration group Morgan Sindall (MGNS) is a good example of a UK stock with an attractive growth rate selling at a discount not only to the market but also relative to its own history. The group?s construction arm is expert in physical infrastructure and complex regeneration projects,...

UK stocks look cheap on so many different valuation metrics, not just one or two, suggesting a robust, genuine investment opportunity is available to long-term investors. So why does nobody seem convinced?This article explores the scepticism surrounding the UK?s market?s attractive valuation and examines the underlying evidence to support it. Shares concludes UK stocks really are a compelling...

Investors seeking to position portfolios for a rally in small and mid cap stocks should buy BlackRock Throgmorton Trust (THRG), a fund with a strong long-run performance record trading at a 7.2% discount to net asset value (NAV), wider than the 4.7% 12-month average.The sell-off in quality growth stocks caused by rising interest rates has been a headwind for the portfolio, but Shares sees...

Second half and full year to disappointWeak consumer confidence blamedFocus on Travis Perkins tomorrowBuilding materials group Marshalls (MSLH) delivered another bleak assessment of the UK market and warned its full-year results would be below previous expectations, sending its shares down as much as 10% to 248p. Shares in builders' merchant Travis Perkins (TPK), which is due to report...

While there is much handwringing over the outlook for the new-build housing sector, it seems the rest of the UK construction industry is in rude health. That has helped construction to be one of the best performing sectors in the FTSE 350 index year-to-date, up 20%.The latest S&P Global/CIPS UK Construction PMI survey - which tracks changes in the total volume of construction activity in the...

One way to reduce the risks associated with less forgiving markets is to ensure you buy companies at the right valuation. With this in mind Shares has conducted a screening exercise of the market to identify stocks which in our view are too cheap and therefore represent attractive investment opportunities.After running the numbers on discounted stocks with earnings momentum and firms which...

Construction and regeneration firm Morgan Sindall (MGNS) posted record profits for the first half of the year, showing further growth on last year which analysts already considered to be a 'step-change in performance'.With the office fit-out market accelerating, an elevated order book and strong cash-flow generation, we think the market is undervaluing the group's shares.Despite a tough...

Interestingly, the biggest insider deals of the past fortnight have all been sales rather than purchases, which may or may not be telling us something about the mood in the market.The chairman and chief executive of Potters Bar-based social care housing specialist Caretech (CTH:AIM) each sold 750,000 shares at 620p at the start of August, netting £9.3 million between them.The sale, which...

There is a common theme in the current wave of takeovers involving UK stocks, namely that many of the targets operate in the business-to-business space and provide products or services to other companies.Since the middle of July there have been more than half a dozen significant bids, most of which have been recommended by the boards of the target companies.Parker-Hannifin's bid for component...

The FTSE followed through on Tuesday's earnings-driven gains thanks to strong results from insurer Legal and General (LGEN) and record half year completions from housebuilder Taylor Wimpey (TW.), which lifted the whole sector.Asian markets bounced thanks largely to a recovery in technology stocks, including social media and gaming giant Tencent, which had been hit by intense regulatory...

The FTSE followed the lead of Asian markets and rallied in early trading on Wednesday aided by strong results from insurer Legal and General (LGEN) and record half year completions from housebuilder Taylor Wimpey (TW), which lifted the whole sector.Asian markets bounced thanks largely to a rebound in technology stocks, including social media and gaming giant Tencent, which had been hit by...

Morgan Sindall (MGNS) £23.85Gain to date: 25.1%Original entry point: Buy at £19.06, 15 April 2021Construction and regeneration firm Morgan Sindall (MGNS) took us and the market by surprise last week with an unscheduled update announcing better than expected trading in its first half and that full year earnings would be 'significantly ahead' of its previous forecast.Shares jumped as much as...

A surprise increase in US jobless claims raised some doubts about the recovery as the FTSE 100 surrendered its earlier modest gains to trade 0.4% lower at 6,968.30.In the US the S&P 500 was broadly unchanged by 4.30pm UK time.FTSE 250 construction firm Morgan Sindall (MGNS) was one of the day's big winners, surging 13.1% to £23.92 as it unveiled its fourth round of earnings upgrades in the...