FTSE 250 movers: Berendsen boosted by upgrade, while Spectris slumps
London’s FTSE 250 was up 1.1% in afternoon trade to 18,582.55.
Commercial laundry group Berendsen got a boost as RBC Capital upgraded the stock to ‘outperform’ from ‘sector perform’ and lifted the price target to 950p from 900p.
The bank acknowledged risks around the UK turnaround and execution of the chief executive’s strategy, but said Berendsen is fundamentally a good business and the valuation now discounts these downside risks.
“We believe the UK is in the price for nothing and the dividend and balance sheet are supportive,” it said.
UK and North America passenger transport operator FirstGroup advanced as it said reported that group revenue in the third quarter rose by 12.8%, benefiting from favourable currency translation but was flat at constant currency.
Cairn Energy was a high riser as Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ and nudged the price target up to 275p from 270p following a review of the company’s development portfolio and on its potential to outperform market expectations.
The bank said it sees upside potential on Kraken and is positive on the Catcher development, where the wells have so far responded well to water injection testing.
Online electrical goods retailer AO World was higher as it hosted its capital markets day in Germany for analysts and investors.
Spectris was on the back foot as Peel Hunt downgraded the stock. “We continue to be fans of the model and its potential but ahead of the Finals (due on 14 February), we are moving our recommendation back to hold from add as we want to be able to assess the potential based on fact rather than expectation.”
Risers
Berendsen (BRSN) 908.50p 7.39%
FirstGroup (FGP) 110.00p 5.77%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 540.50p 5.47%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 262.40p 5.44%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 242.50p 5.29%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 160.70p 5.03%
Indivior (INDV) 339.50p 3.93%
AO World (AO.) 159.30p 3.71%
Cobham (COB) 134.80p 3.69%
Savills (SVS) 824.50p 3.58%
Fallers
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 413.60p -2.82%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,069.00p -2.55%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 298.60p -2.39%
Evraz (EVR) 231.50p -1.07%
NMC Health (NMC) 1,718.00p -1.04%
Keller Group (KLR) 849.50p -0.99%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 227.30p -0.96%
Spectris (SXS) 2,440.00p -0.85%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,580.00p -0.82%
Drax Group (DRX) 366.20p -0.78%