Why Quindell Portfolio, Telford Homes, and Torotrak Should Beat the FTSE 100 Today

LONDON -- The FTSE 100 is slumping again today, dropping 102 points to 6,660 by mid-morning, all but wiping out yesterday's 108-point gain -- and so the erratic see-sawing continues from last week, when fears abounded that economic stimulus measures were coming to an end. But while some may be poring over day-to-day moves and looking for the reasons, what really counts is that the index is still up nearly 7% since early April and up about 24% over the past 12 months.

But which individual shares are moving today? It's mostly smaller companies from the various FTSE indexes. Here are three in positive territory.

Quindell Portfolio
The Quindell Portfolio share price has been through dramatic swings of late, and the software and consultancy firm is quick to deny rumors of active shorting. Today the price is up 4.2% to 8.9 pence on the announcement of a new contract with Honda to provide a number of accident management services in the U.K. The deal builds on a cooperation period that started in January this year and will run for three years.

Quindell shares were trading at about 14 pence before the recent slump, and they're now on a forward price-to-earnings ratio of only about four based on current forecasts for the year to December 2013. If recent fears are indeed unfounded, that could be a nice bargain.

Telford Homes
Telford Homes shares, like those of the whole homebuilding sector, have had a great year: The price is up more than 130% over the past 12 months. That includes a 1% rise to 271 pence this morning, after the firm released preliminary results showing a 75% rise in sales for the year to 803 properties.

Telford's operating margin is up to 9.7% from 6.2% a year ago, and that contributed to a tripling of pre-tax profit to £9 million. The annual dividend was boosted by 60% to 4.8 pence per share. That's a yield of less than 2% on the current share price, but it's headed in the right direction, and we should see another significant rise next year.

Torotrak
Final results from Torotrak gave the company's shares a 2.5% boost to 30.5 pence this morning after the automotive drive transmissions pioneer announced a 74% rise in revenue and a pre-tax profit of £30,000 -- that might not sound a lot, but it marks significant progress from last year's £1.6 million loss. Chief executive Jeremy Deering said, "We are now in a better position than ever to deliver sustainable growth in value for shareholders."

It's still a couple of years before significant profits are expected, mind, and current P/E valuations are pretty meaningless. It's one for high-tech growth fans, perhaps.

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The article Why Quindell Portfolio, Telford Homes, and Torotrak Should Beat the FTSE 100 Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

Alan Oscroft has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. 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.

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