One of the biggest movers on the market today has been the Graincorp Ltd (ASX: GNC) share price.
In morning trade the food ingredients and agribusiness company's shares are up almost 8% to $9.82, bringing their 12-month return to an impressive 23.5%.
Today's gain is the result of a positive half-year update which revealed a 212.5% increase in underlying net profit after tax to $100 million.
While management has held firm with its guidance, I believe this puts the company in a great position to outperform its full-year underlying net profit after tax forecast of between $130 million and $160 million.
Pleasingly this would mean an end to a four-year streak of declining net profit after tax.
According to the release, the positive half-year performance was largely the result of a strong Australian grain harvest and higher export volumes.
A focus on improving network efficiency and costs management also played a key role. Half-year capital expenditures reduced by almost 60% to $113 million.
Should you invest?
Things certainly do look to be improving for Graincorp and its shareholders at long last.
At 15x forward earnings I think Graincorp's shares do look to be good value and could provide significant upside potential if the company beats its full-year guidance.
In light of this I would put it up there with Tassal Group Limited (ASX: TGR) and Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC) as great investment options in the sector.
