6 stocks that rose more than 14% last week

6 companies you wish you owned

Mike King

Mike King is a Fool.com.au Investment Analyst and Writer. He caught the investing bug more than a decade ago, at a time when the U.S. had invaded Iraq and fear reigned in the markets. His initial success as the markets took off encouraged his passion and thirst for knowledge. With 13 years behind him at one of Australia's largest domestic banks, Mike's passion for stocks led him to join a boutique funds management firm, where he stayed for four years. A seven-year stint in equity research at one of the largest investment banks in the world followed that, giving Mike a thirst to pursue his passion further. Mike holds a Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment and a Graduate Certificate in Financial Planning. His passion is to help retail investors invest better, and that passion was one of his primary reasons for joining The Motley Fool Australia in late 2011. Mike has written thousands of articles since joining, including for Fairfax Media, Yahoo!7, Ninemsn and has also appeared on ABC's The Business. You can see all of Mikes' holdings here

Published June 19, 2012 9:40 am AEST

The S&P / ASX 300 Index (Index: ^AXKO) (ASX: XKO) fell 1.3% for the week, to close at 4,049.7, on low volumes as investors paused before the Greek elections last weekend. These six stocks all jumped by 14% or more.

Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) shot up 17 cents, or 22%, to close at 94 cents. The mid-cap gold miner expects to produce 75-80,000 ounces of gold from its Paulsens gold mine in calendar year 2012 at a cash cost of between $600 to $650 per ounce. The company is also ramping up production to achieve 200,000 ounces per year. Northern Star is debt free and had $84m in cash and bullion at the end of March 2012 – combined with a low cost of production, this company could be one to watch.

Ivanhoe Australia Limited (ASX: IVA) popped 21% to close at 68.5 cents. The company announced on 15^th June that it made its first shipment of copper and gold from its Osborne Copper-Gold project in Queensland to an Asian smelter, valued at around $20m. This is an important step for the company as it faces significant costs to start up its Merlin project. Merlin is the highest-grade molybdenum and rhenium project in the world. As an interesting aside, Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) currently owns 51% of Ivanhoe.

Qantas Airways limited (ASX: QAN) surged 18.5 cents to close at $1.155, a climb of 19%, as investors may believe the company has been oversold. There is also rising speculation that the company could be a takeover target. Qantas recently hired Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) to fend off unwanted private-equity bids.

According to a report on Bloomberg, Qantas is trading at a 61% discount to its $5.6 billion in net tangible assets, and by that measure is undervalued by as much as $3 billion. However, what that net tangible assets value doesn't take into account, is the more than $4 billion of debt that Qantas holds off its balance sheet, as at the end of December 2011. While the shares might look cheap on one measure, it doesn't necessarily mean the stock would make a good investment, and it pays to look deeper than just the company's reported net tangible assets.

BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) rose 4.5 cents, or 17%, to 30.5 cents, as the company said it had no plans to raise funds. BlueScope last raised $600m of equity in December 2011. The company is working on freeing up to $500m in working capital after deciding to close one of its two blast furnaces in Port Kembla, NSW, and is on track to sell its US Metl-Span business for US$117m before the end of June 2012.

Coal of Africa Limited (ASX: CZA) climbed 8 cents to 62 cents – a jump of 15%, as the stock continues to move away from a 52 week low of 47 cents set at the end of May 2012. The company announced last week that it had significantly increased its estimated resources of coal, thanks to acquisitions of shares in companies previously held by Rio Tinto Minerals Development Ltd and Kwezi Mining.

Ainsworth Game Technology (ASX: AGI) rose 24 cents to close at $2.01, a 14% jump. Shares in the company have now risen by more than 350% in the last six months. The poker machine maker has been on a tear since producing its first ever profit in 2011. Despite the price rise, the stock is still trading on an undemanding P/E of 8.5, and consensus forecasts for 2012 put the stock on a prospective P/E of 8.0.

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Motley Fool contributor Mike King doesn't own shares in any companies mentioned. The Motley Fool's purpose is to help the world invest, better. Take Stock is The Motley Fool's free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Click here now to request your free subscription, whilst it's still available. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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