Panmure has lifted its target price on IT infrastructure provider Computacenter (LON:CCC), saying that, just like Father Christmas, it's a busy time of year for the company.
Though not involving sleighs and reindeer, its engineers are working through the festive period, says analyst George O'Connor.
"The mix of ‘budget flush’ and the ‘quiet’ time between Christmas and New Year is traditionally a chance for busy companies to upgrade IT estates," he says, repeating a 'buy' stance.
Shares have done well this year, in outperforming the market by 47% so far but Panmure reckons there is still more 'gas' in the tank.
It raises the price target to 862p from 792p previously on valuation grounds.
The group revised guidance upwards at its interim results in August and its subsequent third quarter interim management statement in October was a ‘beat’, notes the broker.
Interestingly, O'Connor says the defining feature of the firm is not its reselling, but that it has followed the customer, all those years ago by being vendor agnostic, and more recently by building its services portfolio. "In our view digitisation is the next big ‘crank of the wheel’," says the analyst.
In small caps, Vast Resources (LON:VAST) shares added over 8% today as it bolstered its board with a new finance chief and non-executive director. Pierre Joubert becomes the chief financial officer with immediate effect, while Graham Briggs, formerly chief executive at Harmony Gold, becomes a director. Following the news, house broker Daniel Stewart rates the shares a 'buy' and targets 3.7p. "We believe the appointment of these two gentlemen will add huge value to Vast Resources, it said. Elsewhere, some of Anglo Asian Mining's (LON:AAZ) operating costs and overheads will be positively impacted by Azerbaijan's currency exchange changes, the miner said yesterday. The government announced a switch from a fixed to a floating exchange rate regime for the Azerbaijan New Manat. House broker SP Angel said today that the Manat currency depreciation offered a significant tailwind to Gedabek operations with “a substantial portion” of the AAZ operating costs and overheads denominated in the local currency. The broker said it expected a significant improvement in Anglo's operating margins in the medium term before an acceleration in inflation rate balances out the beneficial effect of the exchange rate depreciation. The broker is reviewing its earnings numbers, it said.