These stocks have seen their stock values swell by a fifth or more since January 1. And I can see them continue to surge as the year progresses.
&l;strong&g;Divestment News&l;/strong&g;
Fuller, Smith &a;amp; Turner has seen its share price go gangbusters since the turn of 2019. It&a;rsquo;s up 25% in the year to date but, unlike some of the stocks surging in the new year, the pub operator&a;rsquo;s rise cannot be&a;nbsp;&l;span&g;simply&l;/span&g; attributed to bright trading numbers.
Instead the small cap has thrust higher&a;nbsp;chiefly because of news that it is to divest its portfolio of centuries-old ales and beers to Japan&a;rsquo;s Asahi Group for an enterprise value of &a;pound;250m, a move that will see its beloved brands like London Pride and Cornish Orchards come under Asian control.
The deal will allow Fuller, Smith &a;amp; Turner to continue selling these beverages through its establishments via a long term supply agreement, it said, whilst allowing it to focus on improving its&a;nbsp;position as one of the UK&a;rsquo;s major premium pub and hotel operators.
&l;strong&g;Top Trading&l;/strong&g;
The divestment of its much-loved drinks stable may have commanded the headlines in January and driven its share price skywards. But don&a;rsquo;t underestimate the impact of more strong trading numbers in helping to boost investor appetite for the stock, too.
Last month the London business also declared that it had&a;nbsp; delivered &a;ldquo;&l;em&g;a very strong performance&l;/em&g;&a;rdquo; since it last updated the market during late November, and that like-for-like sales across its Managed Pubs and Hotels had leapt 5.6% in the 42 weeks to January 19.
The popularity of its beers and the quality of its estate is allowing it to defy the broader pressure on consumer spending power that the slowing UK economy is causing and over the critical month of December like-for-like sales leapt an impressive 8.7%.
It&a;rsquo;s not a shock to find City analysts predicting that earnings at Fuller, Smith &a;amp; Turner will continue edging higher, then, by 1% in 2019 and 4% in 2020. Not spectacular numbers, sure, but testament to the company&a;rsquo;s resilience, a quality that merits a slightly-toppy forward P/E ratio of 17.1 times in my opinion. It&a;rsquo;s a top leisure stock to buy into today, in my opinion.
&l;strong&g;It&l;span&g;&a;rsquo;s&a;nbsp;Time To Shine&l;/span&g;&l;/strong&g;
Petropavlovsk is another London-listed share that has charged higher since the turn of the year, its market value up 32% to be exact since New Year&a;rsquo;s Day.
The surging gold price has been one critical driver so far in 2019, the safe-haven metal ploughing through levels not seen since last spring above $1,320 per ounce. And the concoction of geopolitical and macroeconomic stresses currently swirling means that additional strength is quite possible in the weeks and months ahead.
What&a;rsquo;s more, strong production news from Petropavlovsk in recent weeks has helped its share price to gain ground. With its Pokrovskiy pressure oxidation (or POX) facility having poured maiden gold ahead of schedule in December, full-year production came in at some 422,300 ounces. And with further processing lines set for commissioning as 2019 progresses total production this year is estimated at between 450,000 ounces and 500,000 ounces.
With output surging and gold prices expected to remain robust, City brokers are forecasting profits increases of 52% this year and 28% in 2020. Despite its bright growth outlook the gold digger still trades on a mega-low prospective P/E ratio of 6.8 times, though. I reckon this leaves plenty of space for its share price to keep on charging.&l;/p&g;
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