It certainly has been a great start to the year for the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) with the index climbing to a new 52-week high of 5,833 points during yesterday's session.
It wasn't just the index making a new high. Three ASX shares also climbed to new 52-week highs. Here's why:
The Computershare Limited (ASX: CPU) share price hit a new 52-week high of $13.85 yesterday. The shares of Australia's leading share registry business have been on a tear since the announcement of its half-year results this week. As well as posting revenue growth of 7% to $999.1 million and a 4% jump in constant currency earnings per share to 27.1 cents, management increased its full-year earnings per share guidance to between 56 cents and 58 cents in constant currency terms. A great company, but I'm not a buyer at 22x trailing earnings.
The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price reached a new 52-week high of $123.24 yesterday. Like Computershare, the catalyst for this was a strong half-year result from the biotherapeutics company. For the first six months of FY 2017 CSL delivered a 12% jump in net profit after tax to $806 million. A key driver of the growth was its immunoglobulin product Privigen which saw a 34% jump in sales. In my opinion this result demonstrates why CSL is one of the highest quality businesses on the ASX. I think it would be a great buy and hold investment.
The DWS Ltd (ASX: DWS) share price hit a 52-week high of $1.70 yesterday. The information technology services company's shares have surged higher since announcing half-year net profit after tax of $9.1 million, up 19% on the prior corresponding period. A big driver of its strong first-half performance was the successful integration of the Phoenix and Symplicit acquisitions. Management believe these acquisitions have allowed DWS greater flexibility in resourcing solutions for its customers. Whilst not my number one pick in the industry, DWS is still an attractive investment in my opinion.
