Canaccord says positive tailwinds already largely factored into Wolseley

Analysts at Canaccord Genuity revised their target on Wolseley sharply higher ahead of the company's interim results due to be published on 28 March.

The Canadian broker said it expected the group to continue posting "decent" like-for-like sales in the US, despite a drag from price deflation and subdued conditions in the Industrial end market.

Indeed, the Heating and Plumbers merchant had already delivered "very strong" total shareholder returns of roughly 35% over the past twelve months, analysts Aynsley Lammin and Matthew Walker said.

Furthermore, European and UK markets were still challenging, although weaker Sterling would boost profits, as had been taken into account in their current earnings revisions for the company.

On the back of those, they upped their target price from 4,600p to 5,090p, while sticking to a 'Hold' recommendation on the stock.

Nonetheless, they did have a word of caution for investors.

"While we believe that the prospect of lower US corporate tax rates, an extended construction cycle in the US and a weak Sterling are likely to support the share price, a good part of these positive factors look to be priced into the shares."