3i rallies on upbeat notes from SocGen, Barclays

3i was a high riser on Monday amid a couple of upbeat broker notes.

Barclays reiterated its ‘overweight’ stance on the stock, noting its defensive attractions and pointing out the shares have consistently shown NAV resilience in times of market pullback.

For instance, in the quarter to September 2015, the Stoxx 600 fell 9%, but 3i’s net asset value increased 0.2%, Barclays said.

The bank attributed this to management not recognising frothy valuations on the upside, insulating them against large movements on the downside.

“Earnings growth has been the main driver of NAV recovery, rather than positive multiple effect, and we project this to continue,” it said.

It trimmed its target price on the stock to 560p from 570p.

Meanwhile, Societe Generale lifted its price target on 3i to 650p from 630p and reiterated its ‘buy’ call.

“The recent reorganisation has left 3i with a portfolio that is conservatively valued (traditional at 3i) and dressed for the current weather – with its limited exposure to China and oil it should maintain its strong earnings growth,” the bank said.

SocGen said following a weak start to 2016, in line with general financials, the stock is now trading 2% below its new forecast NAV for March 2016 of 435p.

This undervalues both the unrealised value of the asset base and the strategic focus of the business, it said.

At 0842 GMT, 3i shares were up 1.7% to 443.60p.