Persimmon boosted by Liberum upgrade

Housebuilder Persimmon and its peers got a boost on Friday as Liberum upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ and lifted price targets across the sector as it took a more positive view.

“We have upgraded estimates across our coverage as 2016 trading is much better than we feared in our immediate post-referendum downgrades. We still expect a dip in earnings in 2017 and 2018, but we have moderated our volume decline expectations.

“The sector's shares are up 34% since post-EU referendum lows, but we still see selective value in the sector, adding Persimmon to the Buy list, joining Bellway, Berkeley and Gleeson.”

Liberum said the housing market has been surprisingly resilient since the EU referendum as consumer confidence has held up well, mortgage availability has remained good and mortgage rates have fallen.

It upgraded its recommendation on Persimmon as it pays more attention to the high dividend at low risk.

The brokerage said it was confident Persimmon will achieve the payments pledged because of management's incentive scheme, but also because its long land bank means it could cut land spending dramatically to boost cash flows and the strategic land bank should protect margins too.

Liberum upped its price target on Persimmon to 2,100p from 1,795p. It kept Barratt Developments, Bovis, Redrow and Taylor Wimpey at ‘hold’ and Bellway, Berkeley, and MJ Gleeson at ‘buy’.

At 0835 BST, Persimmon shares were up 3.3% to 1,856p.