Berenberg gave a leg up to Spectris PLC (LON:SXS) on Friday, upping its rating to ‘hold’ from ‘sell’ highlighting the mid-cap instrumentation and controls company's self-help levers and dividend attractions.
The German bank’s analysts also raised their target price for the FTSE 250-listed stock to 2,250p from 2,065p, with the shares currently trading at 2,366p, up 4,.6% on Thursday’s close.
READ: Spectris splashes out with special dividend despite challenging markets
In a note to clients, Berenberg’s analysts pointed out: “These are unprecedented times and we continue to assess the pros, cons and sensitivities of the UK industrials that we cover.”
“While Spectris’s 2019 results did little to alleviate several of our concerns, we believe it would be wrong to ignore the company’s more diversified business model, balance-sheet strength, potential portfolio reshaping and clear commitment to return cash to shareholders in these uncertain times,” they added.
The analysts concluded: “The risk to earnings is clearly high but Spectris has self-help levers and our analysis suggests that it is probably better placed than many peers. With the 150p special dividend a further attraction, we upgrade to Hold”.