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It's very quiet here considering the size of this company and the volume of trades per day. I'm interested in picking some of these up and have started looking into it, but would be interested to know if anyone else has any opinions or experience of trading this stock in the past. Is it just the very straightforward business it appears (albeit with dollar sensitivity)?

So, with a bump up in property transactions and competitors showing that business is recovering nicely it is up to CRST management team to deliver. If they cannot match this kind of performance and resume the dividend they only have themselves to blame!

Plus, the overall market is down today. The divi plus the market drop almost exactly equals where we are today, so I wouldn't be overly concerned. This is one of the few stocks I hold that has very few downsides in my opinion, with plenty of positives as outlined by others in this discussion board. Nice to have a stock I don't have to focus on all the time!

Hi Rivaldo, the original source for that article is The Motley Fool so I personally wouldn't put much faith in it. Some others do though, so it may have a mild effect on the SP by bringing it to people's attention!

... and the price continues lower again today, still no director purchases and nobody seems interested in this unloved share. I feel I am either missing something that everyone else knows about or I am a genius and this will come good later in the year. I just wish the SP would wake up a bit!

Which begs the question "What do you think is a reasonable dividend?". With little more than zero from savings accounts or bonds at the moment, anything around 2-4% is highly competitive!

It's been an encouraging run, particularly when the market overall is down around 2% today. Let's hope this company has popped onto people's radar and they have seen it is undervalued!

@MichaelGoodwill - You have pointed out the "big division" in this current crisis... Those people who have retained their job and are still earning against those who have suffered a hit to their income. Like your friend, the former will have healthier bank accounts than ever; unable to spend money in the pub, go to restaurants, take holidays or weekend breaks, drive for work/recreation. Given the employment to unemployment ratio, this should be a good thing as once lockdown eases there will be a pent up demand. Unfortunately, the modern economy is not particularly resilient with most businesses working on a knife edge of just in time delivery, thin margins, low cash balances and reliance on continual growth just to survive and service their debts. It's a really tough call right now, but getting that macro picture right will enhance or destroy your investments more than anything else.

I like the thinking behind this. Without checking the various numbers you give, the story makes sense in the current context. I have spent quite a lot of time of late assessing what many businesses actually do (not always as obvious as you might think) and how that fits into a post COVID world (or a continuing COVID world). Running through a story like this raises ideas and questions that help build an investment case. One further thought, is it possible that car ownership overall will drop? If people are driving less miles, there comes a point where a car share service begins to become viable and car ownership (with all it's associated costs) ceases to make sense. This would affect a number of different business types and insurance would be one. I think this is a little way off, but as people get to the point they would traditionally replace their car they will have a decision to make - possibly amplified by the fact that Petrol/Diesel cars are on the way out (by government decree), and that electric car technology is just not quite up to scratch yet.

I agree with your sentiment. I bought in 2018 at 245p and it has been a steady decline since. I added this as one of my "bedrock" shares... solid, reliable, unexciting even but with some interesting exposure to overseas and developing markets. I should have sold and invested in something else, but now I've been holding so long I'm just trying to forget about it and wake up to a pleasant surprise one day!

Random question... When a broker gives a price target (such as today Barclays saying "Overweight, target price 347p), does that imply a particular time frame? Do all broker price targets have an implied "within 3 months" or "within 12 months) tagged on the end? I'm sure that DLG will reach 347p at some point! But if that is in 5 years that doesn't necessarily help me right now! Thanks in advance.

Sorry, posted URL with an extraneous full stop... this is correct https://www.ft.com/content/40fc8904-febf-4a66-8d1c-ea3e48bbc034

Hmmm, I think the number of "excess deaths" is starting to appear pretty dramatic, eccles04. The numbers in this article should be revealing to you https://www.ft.com/content/40fc8904-febf-4a66-8d1c-ea3e48bbc034.

I'm surprised not to see any director buys at these levels. If I were in their position and really believed in the business strategy and outlook, I would be adding to holdings. Makes me nervous about what they know. Their website seems to suggest the business is still busy even under lockdown but I'm anxious to see a trading update with some hard numbers in it!

Lol, yes YOYO would be appropriate. It strikes me that this amount of price swing in such short periods suggests that "the market" (i.e. all the individuals and corporate investors) have no idea how to value this company in this climate. Old adages such as "the value of all future earnings over time" just don't work when nobody has any idea whether the bank will even exist let alone what the future earnings of the business in a pretty much zero interest rate world could be. Interesting times... Probably better to trade these swings rather than think of this as an "investment" at the moment!

Branson only owns a tiny amount of this after the takeover... https://www.bankrate.com/uk/current-accounts/virgin-money-replaces-clydesdale-and-yorkshire-banks/

Hmmm... I still think they should have had the courage of their convictions and marked it down as a sell. Still, along with most other stuff in the market right now, CRST is a bargain once more! I'm looking forward to that juicy dividend in the coming weeks.

Plus, you can happily spend your time gambling online when you are quarantined (self imposed or otherwise) as long as you have internet access!

Hmmm, broker analysts saying "hold" at a price 100p below current price... If that's what they truly believe they should label it a sell and look forward to a 23% fall!!!

Hmmm, that is disappointing to hear averageMan. I have a small holding in SMDS, but do not like a management team that doesn't bring it's employees along for the journey. Everyone should benefit from profits... shareholders, employees and management but it sounds like the latter may be getting the best slice of this pie. I shall investigate further and may get rid of the shares if I don't like what I find. There are plenty of well run businesses out there that deserve support!