BEST OF THE BROKERS
ADMIRAL
Admiral’s recent underperformance makes them an attractive prospect, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, who upgraded it to a “buy” recommendation. Admiral’s stock has underperformed the sector by 11 per cent over the past three months, but Merrill Lynch believe Admiral’s near term trading outlook appears robust, and the insurance firm’s returns should be comfortably superior to their peers. The target price of 1,050p remains the same.
IDOX
Investec Securities has initiated coverage on IDOX, the software provider, with a “buy” recommendation. Despite a year-on-year drop in profits for the first six months of the year, order intake has reached record levels and the company should be strongly positioned, particularly so for the long term, the broker said. The target price of 16p is based on the company’s price-earnings ratio, and would take it above the 12-month high of 14p.
ROBERT WISEMAN
Panmure Gordon & Co has changed their recommendation for Robert Wiseman, one of the largest dairy businesses in Britain, from “buy” to “hold”, as at 387.8p, the share price is very close to Panmure’s price target of 400p.
The Scottish milk supplier and distributor posted 8.5 per cent volume growth in their first quarter, and so Panmure has increased estimated profit before taxation up from £33.5m to £34m.