Canaccord Genuity lowers target price on Agronomics

Analysts at Canaccord Genuity lowered their target price on agriculture investment business Agronomics from 20.0p to 17.5p on Wednesday after the group's latest net asset value update showed a modest reduction its NAV/share ratio.

However, Canaccord said this new announcement didn't change how it saw Agronomics and reiterated its 'buy' rating on the stock.

"We highlight that in the last year, the stock has traded at over 40% discount to NAV, and the discount was even more severe as of June 24 when, at a share price of 6.0p, the discount to NAV was 63%. In our view, this is excessive for several reasons," said Canaccord.

Firstly, the Canadian broker pointed out that more than 40% of NAV was "confirmed" by transactions carried out in the last 12 months, where Agronomics often did not even participate in a follow-up investment. Therefore, Canaccord considers them as genuine third-party valuations.

Secondly, despite some limited exceptions, Canaccord said Agronomics' portfolio was progressing, and despite the challenging venture capital sector, the investees successfully raised additional capital and/or progressed in their journey towards regulatory approval or, in some cases, progression in the construction of their first at-scale facility.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com