Smiths Group starts solidly despite oil and gas softness
17th Nov 2015 07:03
(ShareCast News) - Sales at Smiths Group declined only 4% in the first quarter, as solid trading performances by the detection and medical businesses made up for most of the weak markets endured by its oil and gas customers. As expected, underlying revenues for the first quarter at oil and gas en
Read moreBroker tips: Home Retail, Smiths Group, Genel Energy
21st Oct 2015 16:57
(ShareCast News) - Home Retail's interims did little to dispel the doubts of analysts at Canaccord Genuity about the ability of the company to turn around the financial performance of its Argos division. "The investment case on the shares hinges on a view of Argos, with Homebase in effect something
Read moreLondon midday: Equity markets rebound as public finance figures beat forecasts
21st Oct 2015 11:19
(ShareCast News) - UK equity markets on Wednesday rebounded from earlier declines after better-than-expected public finance figures. The UK's headline public borrowing declined from an upwardly revised £11.6bn to £9.4bn in September, compared with analysts' expectations for a £10.1bn reading, accord
Read moreWednesday broker round-up
21st Oct 2015 10:44
(ShareCast News) - Genel Energy: JP Morgan Cazenove reiterates to overweight. Target price: 610.00p. UBS downgrades to neutral, reduces target price to 400.00p. Sse: Jefferies starts new coverage with a hold, sets target price at 1600.00p. Smiths Group: Citigroup upgrades to buy, raises target pric
Read moreSmiths Group rallies on Citigroup upgrade
21st Oct 2015 09:44
(ShareCast News) - Smiths Group got a boost after Citigroup raised the stock to 'buy' from 'neutral' and lifted the price target to 1,200p from 1,050p to reflect an improved pension position and stability in the medical and detection businesses. The bank said it sees several areas of upside optional
Read moreLondon close: Stocks up as US inflation exceeds forecasts
15th Oct 2015 16:15
(ShareCast News) - The UK equity market was in positive territory on Thursday after US inflation data beat forecasts. The US consumer price index for September came in flat from a year ago, better than the 0.1% dip forecast by analysts and following a 0.2% increase in August. Compared to a month ag
Read moreBroker tips: Smiths Group, WH Smith, Burberry
15th Oct 2015 14:32
(ShareCast News) - Exane BNP Paribas downgraded Smiths Group to 'underperform' from 'neutral' and cut the price target to 830p from 1,000p. The bank said new management inherits two legacy issues. Firstly, it noted that organic sales growth has lagged the sector for years and said growth for both t
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Burberry trips lower, ARM flexes
15th Oct 2015 13:50
(ShareCast News) - The FTSE 100 slowly recovered Wednesday's losses, up 55.73 (0.89%) to 6,325.34 by mid-afternoon Thursday. Burberry took the biggest hit of the day after it announced sales slowed in the second quarter as the luxury market became "increasingly challenging". While retail sales were
Read moreExane downgrades Smiths, says outlook for two largest assets has worsened
15th Oct 2015 09:12
(ShareCast News) - Exane BNP Paribas downgraded Smiths Group to 'underperform' from 'neutral' and cut the price target to 830p from 1,000p. The bank said new management inherits two legacy issues. Firstly, it noted that organic sales growth has lagged the sector for years and said growth for both t
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Lloyds tipped to be dividend heavyweight, Rolls-Royce dips despite new contracts
24th Sep 2015 13:54
(ShareCast News) - The FTSE 100 peaked at around 0915 BST, but then declined 64.83 points (1.07%) to 5967.41 by mid-afternoon Thursday. Lloyds Banking Group surged on the news that fund manager Alex Wright tipped the bank to become a dividend heavyweight over the next two years. That sent stock pric
Read moreLondon pre-open: Stocks to start lower after Chinese PMI data
23rd Sep 2015 07:23
(ShareCast News) - Investors were expected to focus on global manufacturing data and central bank talk on Wednesday after US stocks struggled to find their footing in the previous session. The Footsie was being called to start the day lower by 53 points to 5,882. As of 07:32 the Shanghai Stock Exch
Read moreSmiths full-year profit up despite drop in revenue; new CEO appointed
23rd Sep 2015 07:10
(ShareCast News) - Shares in diversified engineering company Smiths Group rallied after it posted a 3% rise in full-year pre-tax profit despite a drop in revenue and named its new chief executive. For the year ended 31 July, pre-tax profit was up 3% from last year at £459m, but revenue slipped 2% to
Read moreLondon close: Stocks fall ahead of FOMC interest rate decision
17th Sep 2015 16:26
(ShareCast News) - London stocks dropped on Thursday as investors turned their attention to the Federal Reserve's announcement on interest rates due after the close. The market sees a less than 25% chance that the Fed will raise rates. The Federal Open Market Committee publishes its decision at 1900
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Engineers hammered, IAG takes off
17th Sep 2015 14:05
(ShareCast News) - The FTSE 100 lost some ground as nerves and indecision showed ahead of the US Federal Reserve's mighty rate decision. London's benchmark index was 0.6% lower at 6,191.95 by 1450 BST on Thursday, with a phalanx of engineers and oil services groups leading the way down. Engineers S
Read moreBroker tips: Smiths Group, Meggitt, Coca Cola Hellenic
4th Aug 2015 17:14
(ShareCast News) - After US activist investor ValueAct built a near-5% stake in Smiths Group, Credit Suisse calculated a 1,500p-per-share break-up value for the aerospace engineer. According to reports, ValueAct, an $18bn activist fund which has previously influenced the direction of US companies in
Read more