FTSE 250 movers: Hunting shines after Goldman note; Esure slips on downgrade

London’s FTSE 250 index was flat at 17,087.87, with investors erring on the side of caution ahead of the FOMC minutes later as they keep an eye on developments in France.

Hunting got a boost after Goldman Sachs reiterated its ‘buy’ rating on the stock, adding it to its ‘conviction list’ as it said the valuation offers a good buying opportunity. The bank said it expects revenue growth and margin expansion to start from the second half of next year as US onshore drilling activity picks up. GS said that within its European sector coverage, Hunting is among the few companies offering exposure to US shale, where it expects a sharp recovery in 2017 onshore rig levels.

Esure was under the cosh after Peel Hunt downgraded the stock to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’, saying the company’s performance has disappointed this year relative to some of its peers as it struggled to raise prices above claims inflation. It said recent evidence suggests Esure’s Motor rate increases are starting to align with claims inflation, but this will not be sufficient to pull the motor business out of a core underwriting loss in 2015 or 2016.

“We increase our target price from 255p to 260p on the back of a higher value for Gocompare, offering 2% upside but lower our recommendation…given the delay in the recovery of the insurance business,” said Peel.

Playtech slid after it announced that a decision by the Financial Conduct Authority on its £460m takeover of contracts-for-difference broker Plus500 has been pushed back to December. Playtech had said in September that regulatory approval was taking longer than initially thought due to the high profile of the deal, adding that it expected the regulatory assessment to be completed by November.

Plus500 said on Wednesday that the terms of the merger agreement are such that it may be terminated if the acquisition is not consummated by 31 December.

Risers

Hunting (HTG) 330.40p 4.89%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 56.55p 4.72%
Polymetal International (POLY) 578.00p 3.40%
BBA Aviation (BBA) 195.30p 2.84%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 201.60p 2.80%
Essentra (ESNT) 827.50p 2.73%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 316.00p 2.60%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 800.50p 2.43%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 288.90p 2.19%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 565.50p 2.17%