FTSE 250 movers: WH Smith boosted by upgrade; Wood Group gushes lower
London’s FTSE 250 was flat at 18,749.56 in afternoon trade, with broker notes making their mark on the index.
WH Smith was a high riser as Investec lifted the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ and bumped up the price target to 1,900p from 1,550p.
“With Travel now accounting for 58% of earnings before interest and taxes (FY16) and 25% of its Travel outlets based internationally, we believe WH Smith’s equity story is evolving into a play on a structurally growing global travel market.”
On the downside, Wood Group gushed lower after it reported a 16% drop in full-year revenue and a 62% decline in profit, and said it remains cautious on the near-term outlook.
Online electricals retailer AO World lost ground after Morgan Stanley downgraded its stance on the stock to ‘underweight’ from ‘equalweight’ and cut the price target to 135p from 170p.
The bank said its takeaway from the investor day in Germany was that management will not aggressively drive growth in Europe, with guidance for 30% growth over the next few years.
“Given the current trajectory (around 80% to 30% in 2Q to 3Q), even 30% may not be achievable without a significant step up in marketing spend.”
OneSavings Bank was also under the cosh because of a broker note, with peers Aldermore and Shawbrook following suit.
Investec “reluctantly” downgraded the stock to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’, holding the price target at 385p.
The brokerage said OneSavings is “perfection”. However, it has been the best performing UK bank within its coverage year to date, with the shares up 126% since 27 June 2016, more than fully reversing an unwarranted post-Brexit selloff.
Following such outperformance, Investec recommended taking profits.
Risers
Essentra (ESNT) 508.00p 4.98%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,683.00p 3.57%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 276.80p 2.90%
Vectura Group (VEC) 146.00p 2.82%
Henderson Group (HGG) 230.20p 2.68%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 152.70p 2.35%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 423.20p 2.10%
BGEO Group (BGEO) 2,978.00p 1.99%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 186.60p 1.97%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 633.00p 1.93%
Fallers
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 750.00p -8.31%
AO World (AO.) 154.40p -3.50%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 387.50p -2.81%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 229.50p -2.63%
Ascential (ASCL) 309.20p -2.43%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 175.90p -2.33%
Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 261.50p -2.13%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,012.00p -2.13%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 269.10p -1.90%
Redefine International (RDI) 36.78p -1.74%