Numis Securities has decided to punt on William Hill (LON:WMH) as the City broker reckons the first half of next year will be better.
Upgrading the bookie to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’, analyst Ivor Jones says William Hill’s price is currently in a ‘trough period’ but he believes earnings momentum and business mix will look more attractive by next year.
“William Hill is a soundly-financed market leader well-placed to weather competition and regulation.
“We believe that the recent share price fall has created a buying opportunity.”
Jones added: “We believe that the company has the financial, technology and people strengths to be a market leader once we get through the current period of intense competition and regulatory scrutiny.”
With a price target of 480p, Numis sees nearly 30% upside to the current share price of around 375p.
Bovis Homes (LON:BVS) was downgraded by Liberum to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ following Monday’s positive interim results, which included a dividend increase and prompted new highs.
Elsewhere, on this August morning, it was more a case of nip-n-tuck among City analysts.
Changes in recommendations and ratings can be quite elusive this time of year, and instead we must look instead to the moving of price targets.
Sticking with Bovis, Deutsche Bank raises its bar to 1,352p from 1,270p.
Allied Gold Mining (LON:ALD), already rated a ‘buy’, had its target lifted by Nomura to 320p from 280p, while Credit Suisse is staying ‘neutral’ on Antofagasta (LON:ANTO), although its price target decreases to 640p from 710p.
The bank, meanwhile, repeated an ‘outperform’ rating for investment firm Melrose (LON:MRO) but dropped the target to 310p from 350p, and its targets for Spectris (LON:SXS), Talk Talk (LON:TALK) and Vesuvius (LON:VSVS) also dropped.