JPMorgan upgrades Inchcape, downgrades Signature Aviation

Shares of car dealership Inchcape got a boost on Wednesday as JPMorgan Cazenove upgraded the stock to ‘overweight’ from ‘neutral’, saying it has been positively surprised by the strength of the company’s cash flow, with carefully controlled working capital pressure.

"While earnings are under severe pressure in the short run, we note that many of the group's markets are at multi-year lows," it said. "Timing is difficult, but at some point, we think the group will begin to see materially stronger earnings momentum."

In the meantime, the group's balance sheet is strong, said JPM, which lifted its price target on the stock to 595p from 510p.

In the same note, JPMorgan downgraded its stance on Signature Aviation to ‘neutral’ from ‘overweight’ and cut the price target to 267p from 312p.

It said Signature has proven itself to be more resilient than feared, with perceived balance sheet risk now neutralised.

Nevertheless, it had decided to downgrade the rating following an 18% rise in the share price in the last month, arguing that the stock now seems closer to fair value.

"We prefer to pause here until some structural risks such as ESG and remote working etc become clearer," it said.

At 1035 BST, Inchcape shares were up 4.4% at 504.10p and Signature shares were down 3% at 260p.