FTSE 250 movers: Partnership Assurance shares recover

26th Mar 2014 14:24

Partnership Assurance rose strongly today as the annuity provider climbed alongside others in the sector following last week's major sell-off which came on the back of the government's decision to bin compulsory annuities for pensioners. Just Retirement Group also made strong gains. Online gaming group 888 continued to climbed one day after it posted a strong performance and a highly cash generative year, which prompted the proposal of an extra one-off dividend of 7.0 cents per share on top of a final dividend of 4.0 cents. FirstGroup climbed after Liberum Capital lifted its rating on the group from 'hold' to 'buy' and raised its target price from 135p to 160p. Meanwhile, oil and gas company Enquest slumped after it revealed the realised average price per barrel of oil sold last year decreased 1.7% to $109.7 and said profit from operations before tax and net finance costs dropped 7.5% to $374.8m, hit by a sharp rise in costs. Citigroup slashed its rating on Man Group from 'neutral' to 'sell', prompted a significant decline in its share price. The broker also cut its target price on the stock from 90p to 85p. NMC Health was another sharp decliner following the news Executive Director Khalifa Bin Butti has decided to step down from the board with immediate effect. FTSE 250 - RisersPartnership Assurance Group (PA.) 135.50p +8.84%888 Holdings (888) 152.00p +6.15%Ocado Group (OCDO) 451.20p +5.37%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 151.10p +5.37%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 182.60p +4.22%Renishaw (RSW) 1,977.00p +4.00%FirstGroup (FGP) 144.20p +3.97%Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 738.00p +3.94%Just Retirement Group (JRG) 141.60p +3.74%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 255.00p +3.57%FTSE 250 - FallersEnQuest (ENQ) 129.80p -9.99%Man Group (EMG) 98.20p -4.66%NMC Health (NMC) 511.50p -3.49%Genus (GNS) 982.00p -2.77%Ted Baker (TED) 2,262.00p -2.50%SEGRO (SGRO) 333.20p -2.03%Dignity (DTY) 1,476.00p -1.93%CSR (CSR) 708.00p -1.67%Infinis Energy (INFI) 240.00p -1.64%Countrywide (CWD) 664.50p -1.56%NR