FTSE 100 movers: Ocado rallies on upgrade; Croda falls
London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 7,523.78 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Online supermarket Ocado was the top gainer on the index after Berenberg lifted its stance on the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’, highlighting an attractive entry point.
The bank noted that since its downgrade in March 2021, when it felt expectations had become too high, Ocado shares have fallen 25% as sentiment was also affected by a fire at an Ocado facility, patent dispute concerns and a lack of deals.
"However, our underlying view is unchanged. Ocado’s ecosystem of grocery e-commerce solutions is best-in-class; we believe it will continue to sign more deals with both existing and new partners," it said. "We believe the rise of quick commerce (q-commerce) validates the market opportunity for Ocado Zoom, providing scope for incremental deals."
InterContinental Hotels also rallied after an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ at UBS.
LSE was higher after Citi upgraded its recommendation on the shares to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ and upped the price target to 9,300p from 8,600p. "LSE stock is simply too cheap in our view following the recent de-rating," the bank said.
It noted that the shares now trade on only 21x 2023 estimated earnings per share, which it said was low versus history and peers.
On the downside, Croda was the worst performer, closely followed by credit-checking firm Experian.