Avast offers growth at reasonable price, says Berenberg

Berenberg initiated coverage of cybersecurity firm Avast at ‘buy’ on Tuesday with a 680p price target, saying it was among its top picks for 2021, offering growth at a reasonable price.

The bank noted that Avast is the world’s largest B2C cyber security company by number of users, with more than twenty times the number of users as its main competitors.

"In our view, Avast’s market leadership will enable it to deliver at least high-single-digit organic growth and maintain its circa 50% free cash flow margin for many years," Berenberg said.

"With multiple growth initiatives and likelihood for M&A, which could accelerate growth also, and the shares trading on a 6% FCF yield, Avast offers a rare combination of growth and value."

At 1100 GMT, the shares were up 1.7% at 540p.