FTSE 250 movers: Halfords higher on upgrade; Ultra Electronics slides

London’s FTSE 250 was down 0.2% to 20,038.05 in afternoon trade on Friday.

Halfords was the standout gainer as Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to ‘hold’ from ‘sell’.

“Following weakness in the shares, and trading on just 11x calendar 2018 PE with a 5.8% dividend yield we now see more limited downside and hence upgrade,” the bank said.

Virgin Money was also on the front foot as Investec reiterated its ‘buy’ rating on the stock ahead of the company’s investor day on 16 November .

Going the other way, Ultra Electronics was under the cosh after it said that a decision from the US Department of Justice about its proposed acquisition of NYSE-listed Sparton is now expected at the end of March 2018.

It was also hit by a downgrade to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’ at Berenberg. The bank pointed to persistent organic decline as a concern, particularly during the current US defence growth cycle, and said it remains unconvinced that Ultra is on the cusp of an organic growth inflection point in 2017.

Outsourcer Serco was in the red following a downgrade to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’ at Liberum Capital.

Risers

Halfords Group (HFD) 330.70p 6.40%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 293.70p 3.38%
Alfa Financial Software Holdings (ALFA) 492.70p 2.65%
Beazley (BEZ) 512.50p 2.50%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 259.00p 1.97%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 968.00p 1.84%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 952.50p 1.76%
FirstGroup (FGP) 110.90p 1.56%
Greggs (GRG) 1,315.00p 1.54%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 265.50p 1.53%

Fallers

Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,573.00p -8.39%
Serco Group (SRP) 106.40p -5.51%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 425.50p -3.32%
Investec (INVP) 503.00p -2.90%
Intu Properties (INTU) 206.30p -2.55%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 196.90p -2.48%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 742.50p -2.37%
Playtech (PTEC) 820.50p -2.32%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 231.20p -2.28%
Cobham (COB) 130.90p -2.09%