BEST OF THE BROKERS
WHITBREAD
Credit Suisse rates the retail group “outperform” and has cut its target price to £19.92. The broker has cut its earnings per share forecasts for the next two years following cautious outlook comments from the firm, but adds that Whitbread shares have underperformed the UK sector by six per cent since early January and still contain 19 per cent potential upside. Credit Suisse remains convinced of the firm’s long-term prospects.
SMITHS GROUP
UBS rates the technology and security firm “buy” with a 12-month target price of £16. After Smith’s profit warning for its detection business on Tuesday, the broker thinks the share price drop has been overdone and that the long-term story for the company remains the same. UBS expects to see growth in the detection arm over the longer term, and predicts that the firm will be broken up to release value for shareholders.
DOMINO’S PIZZA
Goldman Sachs rates the pizza chain “neutral” and has raised its target price to 590p, from 586p, after the firm’s acquisition of Domino’s Germany. The broker expects the purchase to add 1.9 per cent to full-year revenues in 2012, though most of this will be swallowed by expansion costs. Goldman thinks the deal will be earnings accretive by 2015 and that the firm will meet its target of 400 new stores over the next ten years.