Shareholders in vertically integrated energy company Origin Energy (ASX: ORG) continue to see their shares touch new highs this week, with the share price hitting $14.15 on Tuesday. The last time the share price was at these levels was December 2011. Having plunged as low as $9.84 in November 2012 in the wake of a profit downgrade, the shares have sine staged a 41% recovery to yesterday's high.
The stock market is certainly buoyant at present with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) closing at a four-month high of 5201.2 points on Tuesday and Origin is far from alone amongst blue chip stocks hitting new highs.
Within the freight and logistics sector Asciano (ASX: AIO) hit a new 52-week high while Aurizon (ASX: AZJ) hit a new all-time high since its listing in 2010. In the finance sector Bank of Queensland (ASX: BOQ) is now trading at its highest level in over two and a half years while retailer JB Hi-Fi (ASX: JBH) is back at levels last seen in April 2011.
While share prices go up and down, high quality companies manage to consistently increase their dividends over time. Discover The Motley Fool's favourite income idea for 2013-2014 in our brand-new, FREE research report, including a full investment analysis! Simply click here for your FREE copy of "The Motley Fool's Top Dividend Stock for 2013-2014."
More reading
Motley Fool contributor Tim McArthur owns shares in Origin Energy.