Broker snap: Canaccord ups Hargreaves Lansdown target after 'impressive' results

4th Sep 2013 11:00

Full-year results from Hargreaves Lansdown were 'impressive' with figures broadly meeting forecasts, though broker Canaccord Genuity decided to maintain its neutral stance on the stock on Wednesday.The compared said that it grew revenues, profit, assets under administration and active client numbers to new record levels in the year ended June 30th. Canaccord raised its target price for Hargreaves Lansdown from 850p to 1,040p. It explained that the old target price (for March 2014) was based on 26 times earnings for the year ended June 2013, while the new target (for September 2014) is based on 26 times earnings for the current fiscal year (ending June 2014).The broker said: "This 22% rise in target price reflects the roll forward of the date for the target price by six months and the confidence provided by the full-year results."Hargreaves' outlook was confident but did note that there will be "some pressure on income earnings from interest on cash deposits, caused by the current extremely low interest rates".Canaccord concluded: "With uncertainty remaining over the revenue margins in FY14 and FY15 we leave our [...] 'hold' investment recommendation unchanged."The stock was down 2.91% at 1,001p by 11:08 on Wednesday.Numis Securities also raised its target price for the shares (from 997p to 1,006p) but retained its 'hold' rating.BC