Berenberg names Chemring 'top pick' in UK defence sector

Analysts at Berenberg bumped up their target price for shares of Chemring from 360.0p to 370.0p, pointing out the strength of its fundamentals and labelling the shares as their 'top pick' in the UK defence space.

The move followed the aerospace and defence technologies group's decision to unveil a share buyback programme.

In particular, the analysts noted that the company offered the highest margins on its earnings before interest and taxes and lowest leverage in UK defence for 2023.

And Chemring's Roke and Energetics businesses were likely to sustain its top-line growth.

Together, those two units accounted for more than half of group revenue.

They also raised their outer year earnings per share estimates by 5%.

All told, they judged the shares' valuation to be "attractive" in the wake of the 20% de-rating seen over the past year.

That had left the shares trading at 13.8 their estimates for Chemring's earnings in 2024.