RBS takes share price hit after analyst downgrade
The Royal Bank of Scotland was hit this morning as the bank went ex-dividend and two brokers had lowered their forecasts for the company’s shares.
Analysts at Macquarie downgraded the company from buy to neutral this morning, slashing its target price to 201p, from 246p.
IT came after the bank’s second-quarter adjusted operating profits fell nine per cent below analyst estimates, said Robert Sage at Macquarie.
“Our estimates have fallen significantly … reflecting changing operating conditions in the UK, and lower return expectations translate into a 9.6% reduction in our target price to 246p,” he said.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs reiterated its buy rating on the stock, but lowered its target price to 325p from 360p.
Shares were trading down around eight per cent to 182.5p.
It comes as the bank goes ex-dividend, meaning investors buying its shares today or later will not get a 14p dividend for the year promised by the bank to its shareholders.