Barclays lifts Unilever target price after strong Q1

Barclays has lifted its target price for Unilever following the consumer-goods group's well-received first-quarter results last month, saying the current quarter could beat expectations.

The bank has raised its target for the shares from 5,000p to 5,200p and maintained an 'overweight' position on the stock.

"Unilever remains the most compelling turnaround in European staples. It has delivered two consecutive strong volume quarters and we think Q2 could now see a sizeable margin beat," Barclays said.

The bank has lifted its revenue, margin and earnings-per-share estimates following Unilever's trading update on 25 April, in which it unveiled underlying sales growth of 4.4% in the first quarter, with all five business divisions contributing to growth.

The company kept its full-year outlook unchanged, forecasting a 3-5% improvement in underlying sales and "modest improvement" in underlying operating margin.

"Unilever is becoming a higher-growth, higher-margin business," Barclays said.

The stock has risen more than 11% since its update last month, but remains more or less flat over the past 12 months. On Tuesday, the shares were down 0.6% at 4,286p.