Berenberg raises target price on William Hill

Analysts at Berenberg raised their target price on bookmaker William Hill from 150.0p to 200.0p on Wednesday, citing some "encouraging" trends in the group's "robust" first-half update.

Berenberg said William Hill had posted solid numbers both before and during the Covid-19 pandemic, with good revenue growth supported by shrewd cost control.

In the UK, the analysts said the roll-out of a new gaming front end yielded benefits with a better-than-expected fall in unique actives, driven by the disruption, and a good increase in average revenue per user, while the international online division benefited from product improvements and channel shift from retail as the company continued to diversify geographically, increasing revenues generated outside of the UK.

The German bank added that William Hill's operational performance had improved, its balance sheet had strengthened and highlighted that with investment continuing in the US business, it remained "positive" that future growth opportunities were not reflected in the current share price.

"After a tough few years when WMH lost ground in digital due to some very company-specific issues, the company has started. gaining back ground, especially in the UK market," said Berenberg, which reiterated its 'buy' rating on the stock.