Charles Stanley upgrades Smith & Nephew to 'accumulate' off quarter two results

31st Jul 2015 15:01

(ShareCast News) - Analysts at Charles Stanley raised their rating for Smith & Nephew from 'hold' to 'accumulate' and lifted their price target to 1167p from 1143p.Medical products suppler Smith & Nephew posted revenue up by 5% to $1,168m and trading profit up 6% to $512m.Charles Stanley analyst Rae Ellingham kept full-year guidance unchanged and said steady progress was being made.Ellingham said in a note to clients it was particularly pleasing to see a good performance in the knee implant's franchise.Smith & Nephew was growing in emerging markets and would benefit from restructuring in its advanced wound care division, Ellingham said.Goldman Sachs iterated a 'buy' rating and said it had a "better spring in its step" in the second quarter but there was momentum to improve further.Analysts at Goldman Sachs lowered their full year earnings per share by guidance for 1% but left later forecasts unchanged.Shares in Smith & Nephew were up 1.11% to 1,180p at 1426 BST.