Shore Capital reiterates 'buy' on St James's Place after 'excellent' 2013 results

25th Feb 2014 10:59

Shore Capital has reiterated its 'buy' stance on financial advisory firm St James's Place after the company reported an 'excellent' set of final results.The broker, which set a price target 795p, said 2013 results highlight that "in financial terms the company is going from strength to strength", with hefty increases in underlying cash, new business profit, new business, funds under management and the dividend."The shares have had a terrific run in recent months and now trade at a 30% premium to our 2014 net asset value of 610p (upgraded by around 2%) reducing to 21% in 2015 (against 655p)," Shore Capital said.It noted a forward yield of around 2.7% against a 2014 dividend forecast which has been upgraded to 21.2p from 17p."We believe the stock has further to run, given the growth prospects of the business, both organic and from a likely acquisition in the Far East, and the increasingly cash-generative nature of the back-book," Shore said.Shares in St James's Place were up 34p at 828.5p at 11.02 Tuesday.FP