The Australian sharemarket is on fire again today with the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) lifting another 1.1% following yesterday's 1.9% gain. The ALL ORDINARIES (Index: ^AXAO) (ASX: XAO) also gained 1% as investors reacted to positive economic data emerging from China.
Although the gains have been widespread, here are four companies that are performing particularly well today…
G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM) was one of the top performing stocks amongst the ASX 200 group with the childcare operator lifting an impressive 8.8% to $3.33. The stock has come under heavy selling pressure over the last 10 months or so and recently fell below $3 per share, so investors are likely taking advantage of the discounted price.
Bradken Limited (ASX: BKN) jumped 12.6% after the mining services business reiterated its full-year guidance for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), which it expects will be between $136 and $138 million. It also said it is not aware of any reason for the stock's massive decline over the last 12 months that has not otherwise been disclosed to the market.
Mount Gibson Iron Limited (ASX: MGX) rose 7.9% to 20.5 cents per share after the junior iron ore miner reported on its quarterly activities. Despite the strong headwinds facing the industry, Mount Gibson Iron improved its cash position by $10 million (to $334 million) as its ongoing cost reduction initiatives began to materialise. The company is facing testing times with iron ore prices expected to plummet over the next six months.
Greencross Limited (ASX: GXL) jumped an impressive 6.1% after Macquarie Wealth Management maintained its "outperform" recommendation on the pet specialist. Although Macquarie cut its price target on the stock from $8.50 to $7.50, that still represents a 40% upside from today's price tag of $5.36.
Given that the local market remains well below its high levels from earlier this year, now could be a great time to start buying shares of some of the companies on your watchlist.
