Company of the week: Aga Rangemaster

published 17 March 2014

Shares in Aga (LSE: AGA) have soared during the last year. We tipped them at 73p in December 2012, when they were unloved, and they have now risen to around 185p, largely due to a resurgent housing market.

Aga's management has worked hard to keep the business going when times were tough. That said, sales of its iconic Aga cookers have always tended to follow the fortunes of the UK housing market.

Throw in the fact that Aga has a lot of fixed costs which makes its profits very sensitive to changes in sales, and you have the recipe for soaring profits. They increased by more than a quarter last year.

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City analysts think the good times will continue to roll and thatthis will result in earnings per share surging by 59% in 2014 andby a further 23% next year.

Back in December 2012, Aga's shares were changing hands forjust over seven times expected earnings. Today the multiple isover 15 times. The stockmarket likes fast-growing profits, buthistory tells us that Aga's can shrink as fast as they can rise. Theshares could keep on going up, but smart investors may wantto consider selling out while the going's good.

Verdict: take profits

Phil spent 13 years as an investment analyst for both stockbroking and fund management companies.

After graduating with a MSc in International Banking, Economics & Finance from Liverpool Business School in 1996, Phil went to work for BWD Rensburg, a Liverpool based investment manager. In 2001, he joined ABN AMRO as a transport analyst. After a brief spell as a food retail analyst, he spent five years with ABN's very successful UK Smaller Companies team where he covered engineering, transport and support services stocks.

In 2007, Phil joined Halbis Capital Management as a European equities analyst. He began writing for MoneyWeek in 2010.