Australian investors have been given an early Easter present with the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) trading 0.7% higher leading into the long weekend. That comes despite a poor lead from international equity markets overnight which saw the Dow Jones and NASDAQ indices fall 0.4% each.
However, these four stocks have easily managed to outpace the benchmark:
Bradken Limited (ASX: BKN) surged by as much as 23.2% to $2.39 earlier in the session, but has since retreated to $2.16, an 11.3% increase for the day. The engineering services group said that it had rejected a $427.6 million takeover bid from Koch Industries and Pacific Equity Partners which valued the company at $2.50 per share. It said that it did not consider the proposal to represent fair value and hence rejected the offer. The stock has fallen more than 54% since the beginning of the calendar year.
My Net Fone Limited (ASX: MNF) has also risen strongly after the company said that it will purchase the global wholesale voice business of Telecom New Zealand International from Spark New Zealand Limited (ASX: SPK). While you can read more about that here, management said that the acquisition provided a "huge step up" for the business. Obviously, investors agreed, bidding the shares 11.6% higher early in the afternoon.
Vocation Ltd (ASX: VET) has risen 6.5% after the education provider confirmed that the sale of its Endeavour Learning Group business was near completion. Vocation has been forced to sell the business as part of a massive restructure in response to its well-documented woes over the last six months. Still, investors appear more confident in the business' future now than they were one month ago – its shares have skyrocketed more than 88% in that time.
QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE) is trading 4.4% higher at $13.35 following its Annual General Meeting. While the company confirmed that its first quarter results are tracking in line with management expectations, it also hinted at an increase in dividend payouts in the 2015 fiscal year. In this low interest rate environment, investors are bound to get excited at the mention of increased dividends.
