Berenberg hikes target price on AJ Bell following Q3 earnings

Analysts at Berenberg hiked their target price on financial services firm AJ Bell from 370.0p to 410.0p on Friday after the group's Q3 earnings on 18 July sent shares up roughly 6% on the day.

AJ Bell's Q3 earnings showed assets under administration grew, driven by both positive net flows and favourable market movements, as both the direct-to-consumer and advised channels had a solid quarter, in Berenberg's view, with customer numbers continuing to rise for both during the quarter.

Management also highlighted that the business enters Q4 with "strong momentum".

"While AJ Bell should continue to take market share and drive long-term earnings growth, we maintain our 'hold' rating given the current regulatory uncertainty about interest income earned by investment platforms on client balances," said Berenberg.

"We update our forecasts, leading to a circa 9-10% increase in FY24 and FY25 EPS. This is driven by an increase in AuA, given strong flows in Q3 and an increase in flow expectations in subsequent quarters, as well as factoring in margin and cost guidance from the H1 results."

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com