Why these 5 shares started the week strong

Mondayitis was kicked to the curb for these 5 companies, who followed the index up and started the week strong. Find out which stocks followed the broader index upwards to kick off the week.

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The S&P/ASX 200 kicked off the week up 14.8 points to 5,918 on February 19 after finishing last week down at 5,890.

Mondayitis was kicked to the curb for these 5 companies, who followed the index up and started the week strong.

Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT)

Shares in Beach Energy zoomed up 5.53% today keeping the company firmly in the S&P/ASX 200 top risers thanks to a strong half-year results posting which detailed a 5% increase in profit and a 14% increase in revenue.

Beach has recently finalised the $1.58 billion deal to acquire Lattice – a major supplier of gas to east coast markets, including the Otway joint venture.

Shareholders have backed the oil and gas explorer and producer over the last year, raising the share value from its February 20 2017 price of 69c per share.

Fairfax Media Limited (ASX: FXJ)

Multi-platform media group Fairfax Media would have been delighted to find itself on the S&P/ASX 200 gainers list today with a price rise of 3.2% to 63c per share.

It's good news for the news and information giant, which has been trying to recover from a severe share price slide in November 2017 after the spin off of real estate classified and service business Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX: DHG).

Shares in Fairfax fell to a 3-year low during last week's trading, down 3% to 64c per share on February 13 and the company has a long way to go to get back to the $1.16 share price it held at this time last year, much less its June 2 2017 high of $1.68.

Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP)

Pizza franchise giant Domino's Pizza Enterprises, with a significant slice of the pizza segment across Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan and the Principality of Monaco, saw its share price move up 3.5% on February 19 to $44.01 per share.

Domino's handed down lukewarm half-year results on February 14, with underlying earnings per share up 5.8% and revenue up 5.2% – a substantial slow down on previous year's.

Domino's would be happy with any type of gain to start the week given it came in as the second-worse performing stock on the S&P/AX 200 on February 14 when share prices slipped 6% before falling even harder to close off last week at $42.50.

Domain Holdings Australia (ASX: DHG)

Share prices in real estate and media technology services business Domain Holdings have shot up almost 5% today to $3.01 at the time of writing, off the back of its half-year report being handed down today.

Domain's half-year results showed profit is down 8.1% to $24.7 million, but revenue is up 12.5% to $183.2 million.

Domain announced EBITDA rose 8.7% to $56.8 million and the company declared a 30% franked interim dividend of 4c per share.

Domain hit the market at $3.69 when it first listed in November last year, but has so far struggled to reach that height again.

Primary Health Care Limited (ASX: PRY)

Shares in the healthcare company with medical and pathology centres across Australia rose 4.6% to $3.82 on February 19 following the release of its half-year results on February 16.

Investors have rallied behind the company following the announcement of a 5% profit gain and possible major rebranding project to assist its medical centre portfolio.

Revenues in Primary were reportedly up 6% to $857 million, with the most strength coming from its pathology division.

Shareholders were likely kept happy with the announcement Primary would up its interim dividend to 5.1c per share, with earnings per share higher at 4.2c per share also announced.

Motley Fool contributor Carin Pickworth has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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