Rightmove downgraded to 'hold' at Canaccord

24th Feb 2014 09:51

Property website Rightmove has a very clear business model and is benefitting from two favourable tailwinds; namely the secular shift towards online property advertising and the positive impact which the housing market recovery is having on advertisers, analysts at at Canaccord Genuity pointed out on Monday. However, its shares were up by 57% over the year, by 7% on the month and were just 8% below the broker's 'business-as-usual' 3,000p October target price.For the above reasons the broker opted on Monday to downgrade the stock to 'hold'from 'buy', even while maintaining its price target of 3,000p.As well, in 2015 Rightmove and Zoopla would be challenged by Agents' Mutual, which according to recent press reports had signed up 1,830 estate agents offices on an exclusive basis, with a similar number having registered interest. The company was due to report its fiscal year 2013 results on February 28th, with expectations that it was set to comment on its pricing policy and prospects for the year ahead. Rightmove´s target for fiscal year 2013 average revenues per advertiser (ARPA) was £600 per month.AB