Broker snap: St James's Place sees rating cut

12th Apr 2011 11:55

UBS has downgraded wealth management group St James's Place (SJP) to 'neutral', from 'buy', despite saying that the company remains the "best run undiversified UK life company."The broker notes that SJP's share price has risen by 31% in 2011 so far, helped by strong 2010 preliminary results.However, UBS cuts its rating given the increasing odds of Lloyds selling its 60% stake in the company. The broker believes that SJP - not integrated with Lloyd's other life insurance/banking operations - will be classified as a non-core unit when Lloyd's strategic review is published in June.Nevertheless, the target price is raised from 339p to 360p.---bc