Shire
The performance of Shire (LSE: SHP) (NASDAQ: SHPG.US) over the last year has been nothing short of phenomenal. In fact, the pharmaceutical company’s shares have risen by an incredible 81% despite being the subject of a failed bid approach by US rival, AbbVie, which ended in a severe share price fall for Shire. Since then, though, the company’s shares have risen strongly as investors look ahead to the potential for a doubling of Shire’s sales over the next five years.
However, despite its share price rise, Shire still offers excellent value for money. For example, it trades on a price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio of just 1.1, which indicates that its shares could continue to head northwards over the medium to long term. And, with the potential for further bids, Shire could receive a shorter term boost, too.
Ashtead
Rental equipment firm, Ashtead (LSE: AHT), continues to deliver stunning growth. In fact, its bottom line was 2.7 times bigger in 2014 than it was in 2012, which is an exceptional rate of growth that looks set to continue over the next couple of years.
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For example, Ashtead is expected to increase earnings by 26% next year, and by a further 15% in the year after. That’s many times greater than the growth rate of the wider index and, despite this, Ashtead trades at only a relatively small premium to the wider index, with it having a price to earnings (P/E) ratio of 17.5 versus 16 for the FTSE 100. And, when its growth rate and rating are combined, it equates to a PEG ratio of just 0.8, which indicates that its share price could move higher at a rapid rate.
CRH
Over the next two years, building materials company, CRH (LSE: CRH), is forecast to deliver earnings growth of 48% and 31% respectively. That’s an incredibly high rate of growth and it could cause investor sentiment to rise significantly, thereby pushing the company’s share price higher. And, with a significant margin of safety, new investors in the stock should have a degree of confidence in the future performance of CRH’s shares, since even if its forecasts are downgraded somewhat, it still appears to offer excellent value for money.
For example, CRH trades on a P/E ratio of 20.8 which, when combined with its forecast growth rate, equates to a PEG ratio of just 0.5. This indicates that there is considerable upside and that, even if the macroeconomic outlook does deteriorate somewhat, CRH should still deliver an excellent amount of capital gain over the medium term.
