Barclays double-upgrades Virgin Money to 'overweight'
Virgin Money UK
1,645.20p
15:44 15/11/24
Barclays upgraded its stance on shares of Virgin Money on Wednesday to ‘overweight’ from ‘underweight’ and hiked the price target to 165p from 100p.
Banks
4,677.17
15:45 15/11/24
FTSE 250
20,508.75
15:45 15/11/24
FTSE 350
4,453.56
15:45 15/11/24
FTSE All-Share
4,411.85
15:45 15/11/24
The bank said it reckons Virgin Money is best placed to enjoy a mortgage tailwind, which it sees as sustainable from 2021, alongside asset quality better than many peers.
"We see long-term value from strong pre-provision operating profit recovery, with Virgin Money on course for double-digit returns beyond 2022," Barclays said.
"Despite the recent share price rally, we think valuation is attractive at 6.1x 2022e earnings (versus sector at 8.6x) or 0.6x TNAV for a 9.7% return on tangible equity."
At 0955 GMT, the shares were up 4.5% at 148p.