The All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is having an exceptionally strong start to the trading week, and 2022, this Tuesday. At the time of writing, the All Ords is up a very healthy 1.6% so far today. But one ASX share is putting the index to shame. That is the Kelly Partners Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: KPG) share price.
Kelly Partners shares are currently up a pleasing 6% to $4.61 a share at the time of writing. This comes after the company hit a new all-time high of $4.75 a share earlier this morning. This latest gain means Kelly Partners is now up more than 25% since early December. And an eye-popping 112% over the past 12 months.
So what's behind this recent share price surge?
Kelly Partners is an accounting and tax agent company that has attracted the attention of income investors for its rather unusual (by ASX standards) practice of paying out monthly dividends. As many investors would be aware of, the standard procedure on the ASX boards is for companies to pay out dividends twice a year. That contrasts with the US norm of quarterly payouts.
But Kelly Partners instead gives its investors a fully-franked paycheque 12 times a year. Its most recent monthly dividend was doled out on New Year's Eve. This gave investors 0.36 cents in fully franked dividends per share.
Why are Kelly Partners shares raising the roof today?
So why is this company rising so much today? Well, it's not exactly clear. There has been no major news or announcements out of the company in 2022 as yet. However, the company's exceptional December, which today's rally may be an extension of, might explain it. Over the month just gone, Kelly Partners announced not one, but two new acquisitions.
On 15 December, the company announced that it had "signed agreements to acquire an accounting business located in [the] Central Coast" of New South Wales. Kelly Partners estimates that this acquisition will add between $1.08 and $1.35 million in annual revenue to the company. It is scheduled for a 1 May 2022 completion date.
The following day, Kelly Partners announced another acquisition. This time, the company told investors it is to acquire "an accounting business located in Canberra ACT". This business is estimated to bring in between $880,000 and $1.1 million in revenues to the Group. This deal is expected to wrap up by 1 February.
But these are just two of the six acquisitions Kelly Partners has in its FY2022 pipeline. Two acquisitions have already been completed so far this financial year. The company expects the Central Coast acquisition will be its sixth by the time 1 May rolls around.
It's this fast-paced growth that might have had investors excited over December and could be what is continuing to drive Kelly Partners shares higher as we get into January.
At the current Kelly Partners share price, this ASX monthly dividend payer has a market capitalisation of $208 million, with a dividend yield of 1.68%.
