Booker boosted by Goldman upgrade

Food wholesale operator Booker got a boost after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ and lifted the price target to 198p from 171p ahead of the company’s full-year results on Thursday.

Goldman pointed out that Booker has been the worst performing stock in its coverage year-to-date, down 9% versus the pan-European food retail average up 6% despite small earnings upgrades.

“With its capital-light model, Booker is the most cash generative stock in our pan-European food retail coverage,” said GS.

“Importantly, it has a strong track record of capital allocation, either making acquisitions with short cash payback periods, or returning excess capital to shareholders via special dividends.”

The bank forecasts EBIT/EPS compound annual growth rate of 11% over the next three years, driven by the integration of the Londis/Budgens acquisition, continued growth of the Premier store customers, secular growth of the catering customer base and increased density of the delivery network.

This gives an average total shareholder return of around 19% over the next three years.

“Given the stock’s underperformance YTD, we see risks weighted to the upside. Beyond the results, we see any use of cash announcements as positive catalysts.”

Goldman upped its full-year 2016-2018 earnings per share estimates by 0% to 5%, mostly to reflect the continued shift to Premier sales and their positive impact on margins.

At 1033 BST, Booker shares were up 6.4% to 175.50p.