FTSE 250 movers: Drax buoyed by Barclays upgrade, Stagecoach drops

London's FTSE 250 was off 0.1% to 19,625.05 in afternoon trade as investors mulled the latest UK GDP data and looked ahead to the long weekend.

Drax surged as Barclays upgraded the stock to ‘overweight’ from ‘equalweight’ and lifted the price target to 410p from 400p saying post-results weakness was unjustified.

It noted the shares have dropped 20% since the mid-February results, underperforming the Stoxx Europe 600 utilities index by 24%, seemingly “on little more than disappointment that Drax didn’t immediately announce a new higher dividend policy”, but instead said it would consult with shareholders over 1H17.

“We understand Drax’s consultation is a genuine attempt to balance priorities of growth capex and increased returns to shareholders. We thus see no justification for the scale of Drax’s recent share price reversion, and upgrade,” the bank said.

Insurer Hastings was on the front foot after saying that growth in live customer policies helped drive a 26% rise in first quarter gross written premiums to £214m.

Going the other way, transport operator Stagecoach retreated after a downgrade to ‘reduce’ from ‘hold’ at HSBC on continued concerns around its rail franchise and UK bus operations.

Actuator manufacturer and flow control company Rotork fell after it highlighted challenges in the oil and gas market, although it did report a rise in order intake and revenue for the first quarter and reiterated its expectations for the full year.

Commercial laundry group Berendsen was lower after Morgan Stanley downgraded its stance on the stock due to competition concerns.

Just Eat slipped as it said its executive chairman has taken time off for medical reasons.

Risers

Drax Group (DRX) 322.20p 6.02%
Renishaw (RSW) 3,384.00p 4.67%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 509.50p 3.54%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 453.10p 2.95%
Evraz (EVR) 214.00p 2.88%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 684.50p 2.78%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 155.80p 2.70%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 305.00p 2.59%
Senior (SNR) 214.90p 2.33%
Computacenter (CCC) 818.00p 2.25%

Fallers

Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 320.00p -3.82%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 202.00p -3.44%
IP Group (IPO) 137.30p -3.31%
Greencore Group (GNC) 221.80p -3.14%
Genus (GNS) 1,699.00p -2.41%
Rotork (ROR) 245.80p -2.03%
Berendsen (BRSN) 850.50p -1.96%
Pennon Group (PNN) 854.00p -1.84%
Just Eat (JE.) 575.50p -1.79%
Allied Minds (ALM) 160.00p -1.78%