Sell-off at Inchcape 'hard to justify', says Citi
Last week's sell-off in
Inchcape tumbled on Thursday after JPMorgan Cazenove downgraded the car dealership to 'neutral' from 'overweight' and slashed the price target to 800p from 1,050p, saying investors should "prepare for increased volatility ahead".
The stock. which was trading around the 750p level at the start of last week, closed Friday's session at 644.5p - its lowest finish since March 2024.
However, according to Arthus Truslove from Citi, the recent share price move was "hard to justify", and the bank has left its forecasts and target price unchanged.
"We believe that Inchcape has a unique opportunity to consolidate the automotive distribution market. Our 10 December report shows that a FY24 share buyback could support double-digit EPS accretion. Our 2025E adj. PBT forecast of £525m is 6% above company-compiled consensus," Truslove said in a research report.
The stock, which Citi said trades at just eight times forward earnings, was up 0.2% at 646p by 0925 GMT.
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