United Utilities Group (UU.)

Sector:

Utilities

Index:

FTSE 100

1,022.50p
   
  • Change Today:
    -20.00p
  • 52 Week High: 1,125.00p
  • 52 Week Low: 958.80p
  • Currency: UK Pounds
  • Shares Issued: 681.89m
  • Volume: 2,070,450
  • Market Cap: £6,972m
  • RiskGrade: 118

Jefferies ups Centrica to 'buy', downgrades United Utilities and Severn Trent

By Michele Maatouk

Date: Thursday 19 Sep 2019

LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Jefferies upped its stance on Centrica shares on Thursday as it highlighted an attractive risk/reward in a broader note on utilities, in which it referred to the stock as a "value wildcard".
Centrica was boosted to 'buy' from 'hold' as Jefferies said the company's new strategy was likely to deliver stable earnings and a more resilient dividend and balance sheet.

"Clearly, there are execution risks relating to cost-cutting measures and disposals, but with the stock trading at a 50% discount to the utility sector (at historical lows of 8x forward price-to-earnings) and offering 6.7% cash yield, we see the risk-reward as attractive," it said. It has a 90p price target on Centrica.

Jefferies downgraded its rating on shares of United Utilities to 'underperform' from 'hold' and slashed the price target to 660p from 870p.

The bank initiated coverage of the stock with a supportive stance on the UK water sector in June. However, it said that its mark-to-market assessment of regulation suggests that baseline returns are likely to see a further reduction in December.

"With this, we see amplified risks around the sustainability of UU's current dividend policy, and see material downside to consensus forecasts," it said. "On our forecasts, the stock currently offers a sector low FY20-22 dividend yield, circa 25% valuation premium to the peer group."

Jefferies cut its recommendation on Severn Trent to 'hold' from 'buy' and lowered the price target to 1,920p from 2,340p as it pointed to more risk to dividend per share growth.

At 1330 BST, Centrica shares were up 2.1% at 74.28p, UU shares were down 1.1% at 794.80p and SVT shares were 1% lower at 2,081p.

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Note 1: Prices and trades are provided by Digital Look Corporate Solutions and are delayed by at least 15 minutes.

Note 2: RiskGrade figures are provided by RiskMetrics.

 

United Utilities Market Data

Currency UK Pounds
Share Price 1,022.50p
Change Today -20.00p
% Change -1.92 %
52 Week High 1,125.00p
52 Week Low 958.80p
Volume 2,070,450
Shares Issued 681.89m
Market Cap £6,972m
RiskGrade 118

United Utilities Star Ratings

Compare performance with the sector and the market.
more star ratings
Key: vs Market vs Sector
Value
69.48% below the market average69.48% below the market average69.48% below the market average69.48% below the market average69.48% below the market average
66.67% below the sector average66.67% below the sector average66.67% below the sector average66.67% below the sector average66.67% below the sector average
Price Trend
3.65% below the market average3.65% below the market average3.65% below the market average3.65% below the market average3.65% below the market average
14.29% above the sector average14.29% above the sector average14.29% above the sector average14.29% above the sector average14.29% above the sector average
Income
0.13% above the market average0.13% above the market average0.13% above the market average0.13% above the market average0.13% above the market average
20% below the sector average20% below the sector average20% below the sector average20% below the sector average20% below the sector average
Growth
82.45% below the market average82.45% below the market average82.45% below the market average82.45% below the market average82.45% below the market average
100% below the sector average100% below the sector average100% below the sector average100% below the sector average100% below the sector average

What The Brokers Say

Strong Buy 3
Buy 1
Neutral 8
Sell 1
Strong Sell 0
Total 13
neutral
Broker recommendations should not be taken as investment advice, and are provided by the authorised brokers listed on this page.

United Utilities Dividends

  Latest Previous
  Final Interim
Ex-Div 20-Jun-24 21-Dec-23
Paid 01-Aug-24 01-Feb-24
Amount 33.19p 16.59p

Trades for 31-Oct-2024

Time Volume / Share Price
16:39 8,703 @ 1,022.50p
16:39 1,123 @ 1,022.50p
16:39 1,053 @ 1,022.50p
16:35 1,820 @ 1,022.50p
16:35 1,153 @ 1,022.50p

United Utilities Key Personnel

Chair David Higgins
CFO Phil Aspin
CEO Louise Beardmore

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