Investors still with an appetite for the stock market are being alerted to potential investment gains at DCC.

Davy Stockbrokers has pointed out DCC's strong earnings track record and the wealth of management experience at the company. The company produced strong interim results that prompted an earnings upgrade to 21 per cent. The group's focus on a broad product range, including high-growth areas such as networks and storage, should continue to drive its information technology business, according to Davy.

Energy is a strong cash-generation business, while lifestyle, demographic and government healthcare policy trends should continue to drive healthcare growth for the company. It will also benefit from the shift towards healthy foods and eating out. The company is focused on organic growth, with acquisitions of well-managed companies an important complementary source of growth.

Davy says the group's accelerated growth to date, its focused and disciplined approach, its ability to identify growth segments in the markets it operates in and its potential for overseas expansion will sustain strong growth momentum going forward. Davy has set a share price target of €16.75 for DCC, which compares with the current share price of around €10.65.