- Cannacord Genuity lowers Harbour Energy target price
- Numis adds target price for Darktrace
- Peel Hunt adds target price for ITM Power
- Deutsche Bank upgrades ITV to ‘Buy’
- Shore Capital reiterates Watches of Switzerland ‘Buy’ rating
Cannacord Genuity lowers Harbour Energy target price
Canaccord Genuity has lowered it’s target price for Harbour Energy LON:HBR to 515p (525p) but reiterated its ‘Buy’ rating. The North Sea-focussed oil and gas exploration and production company announced its full-year results last week and saw pre-tax profits up 681% to USD2.46bn (GBP2.1bn), compared to USD315m in 2021. CEO Linda Cook highlighted that the government windfall tax had all but wiped out profit for the year resulting in USD8m profit after tax, down 92% from USD101m in 2021.
Shares were trading at 267p at the time of writing, down 8.9% on the year to date and -32% over the last 12 months.
Numis adds target price for Darktrace
Numis has added a target price for of 520p for Darktrace LON:DARK and reiterated its ‘Buy’ rating. This follows Berenberg Bank 600p (Buy) and Peel Hunt 504p (Hold) notes earlier in the week. The cyber security business posted six month results last week, highlighting 35% revenue growth and confirmed revenue and margin expectations for the full year. The company has appointed Ernst & Young to review its accounting practices following accusations from US hedge fund Quintessential Capital Management that the company has been massaging its sales numbers.
Shares were trading at 274.5p, up 3% for the year to date and -37% over the last 12 months.
Peel Hunt adds target price for ITM Power
Peel Hunt added on 14th March a target price of 200p for ITM Power LON:ITM but reiterated it’s ‘Buy’ rating following a presentation by new CEO Dennis Schulz in which he outlined his strategic priorities for the company for the next 12 months to make ITM Power “a more reliable, professionalised and industrialised company.” This follows on from an announcement by the AIM listed clean energy business that the company has signed an agreement to increase the power supply to its Bessemer Park location by 300%, to facilitate increased product testing. Whilst delivery of this won’t happen until the end of next year, it is seen as a critical step in removing bottlenecks from manufacturing and allowing production to be scaled.
At the time of writing, shares were trading at 82.92p, down 14.4% for the year to date and -76% over the last 12 months.
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Deutsche Bank upgrades ITV to ‘Buy’
Deutsche Bank has upgraded ITV LON:ITV to a ‘Buy’ (Hold). This follows a strong end to 2022 and positive momentum heading into 2023. The company is on target to hit KPIs it laid out for 2026 and is seeking to deliver a further £15m of cost savings in response to macroeconomic uncertainty. Shareholders are being rewarded with a 50% uptick in dividend for the full year.
Shares were trading at 79.84p, up 3% for the year to date and -5.7% over the last 12 months.
Shore Capital reiterates Watches of Switzerland ‘Buy’
Shore Capital has reiterated its ‘Buy’ rating for Watches of Switzerland LON:WOSG this week. The UK-based retailer of high end luxury watches published a trading update last month suggesting a strong year so far, despite the general recessionary climate, as its high-end clientele offered some immunity from the economic downturn. The luxury goods sector has been a highlight over the last year, and as we reported recently, WOSG’s French peer, LVMH [EPA:MC] has also had a strong year’s trading, with its revenues and profits up 23% over the year.
Shares were trading at 764.5p, down 9% for the year to date and -26% over the last 12 months.
