Barclays upgrades Vistry to 'overweight'

Barclays lifted its price targets for Vistry and Countryside Properties on Friday as it said they are both leading players in Partnerships, which is a growth area within the UK housing market with increasing government support for development of all types of tenure.

The bank upped its recommendation on Vistry shares ‘overweight’ from ‘equalweight’ and upped the price target to 1,600p from 945p. It kept Countryside Properties at ‘overweight’ and hiked the price target to 585p from 510p.

It put the price target changes down to "strong" fundamentals and new sum-of-the-parts valuations.

"Overall, we forecast profit growth in the Partnerships divisions to outstrip that of the wider sector, while the relatively low capital requirements and improving margins drive high return on capital employed," the bank said.

"The Housebuilding divisions continue to trade well, with a solid outlook for growth."

Barclays’ new price targets imply potential upside of 23% for Vistry and 15% for Countryside.

At 0910 BST, Vistry shares were up 3.4% at 1,314.50p and Countryside shares were 1.4% higher at 507p.