Informa shares (LSE:INF) are still in the negative bucket as far as tactical or short term traders are concerned. This is based on latest data to come from artificial intelligence specialist Irithmics, the UK technology firm which studies the behaviour of larger stock market investors and traders like fund managers and investment trusts.
Data available from Irithmics yesterday indicated that Informa was still viewed as a negative /short by investors who take short term positions. There looks to be a short term resistance level for Informa shares at around the 492p mark and the Informa share price was trading close to that Tuesday at 513p at time of writing. Informa shares remain well off the 52 week high established at 659p.
Berenberg and Citibank are bullish on Informa stock
This is in direct contrast to the positive vibes coming out of the analyst community at the moment. Both Berenberg and Citibank analysts recently put out relatively bullish notes on Informa shares, so it may boil down to whom you believe. As a company with a heavy reliance on ev events, Informa had been a stock that took a punch to the chin when the pandemic hit. Some investors have favoured it as a reopening trade now that restrictions are being eased, but it remains very vulnerable to any setbacks in the fight against the pandemic, possibly more so than many other areas, even vanilla hospitality.Berenberg has said that Informa shares offer solid upside on a 12 month view and they have set a target price of 640p. Berenberg analyst Sarah Simon has also said that the medium to long term outlook for Informa looks very solid. Bear in mind Informa’s largest events market is in the US, and here too we are seeing restrictions being eased as we move into high summer.
Citibank: recovery in corporate events sector will be strong
Citibank is telling its clients that the recovery in the events sector is going to be stronger than the market expects. The bank has said investors will need to be patient as the fruits of the recovery in Informa’s events business will take some time to come through. We would agree with this prognosis. While Informa and its competitors are scheduling live events for the autumn now, and we ourselves expect to be attending some of these, they are being organised along much more conservative dimensions.
Another factor is going to be whether or not conference specific business travel recovers. Many habits have changed under the successive lockdowns during the pandemic, and it will be interesting to see whether companies will still underwrite the costs of conference travel to the same degree as previously.
Longer term and strategic investors are slightly less bullish than the Citibank analysts it seems. While we have noticed a slight trend toward the positive side of the mark on the part of large buy and hold investors, appetite for Informa stock remains subdued among these players. If anything they still seem to be taking a wait and see approach.
Citibank has a buy rating in place for Informa and has actually raised its price target for shares from 700p to 725p.
