Broker tips: Great Portland Estates, CLS Holdings, Admiral Group
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Friday 05 Sep 2025
(Sharecast News) - Great Portland Estates is "worth a revisit" for investors following its recent share price weakness, according to Shore Capital, which reiterated a 'buy' rating on the stock on Friday.
Shares in the London-focused real estate group have dropped by around 11% over the past month - something which Shore Capital said was "largely associated with the softening of bond yields". The broker highlighted several reasons for investors to be optimistic, including: a stabilising office market in Central London, increased rental prices and stable yields, a recovery in transaction activity and strong occupier demand.
"This is fuelling further ERV growth - with company guidance of 4-7% for the financial year and prime spaces higher still (6-10%) where vacancy is close to zero and demand well outstripping the supply of both new and refurbished space," said analyst Andrew Saunders.
Despite a strong operational performance from GPE - as confirmed in July's first-quarter update - Shore Capital remains bullish, particularly since the share price is trading at a 42% discount to estimate net tangible asset estimates for 2026.
"With the company noting transaction activity picking up and a significant pipeline of new acquisition opportunities beginning to emerge, the shares continue to offer good value and we reiterate our BUY recommendation," Saunders added.
Analysts at Berenberg lowered their target price on British commercial property investor CLS Holdings from 100p to 85p on Friday, but said its current share price was still "deeply discounted".
Berenberg said CLS' share price has underperformed the wider UK real estate sector by 20% over the last 12 months, reflecting both ongoing negative sentiment towards offices, as well as pricing in execution risks associated with needing to restore balance sheet strength in a "challenging market".
Yet the German bank said CLS' interim results on 13 August confirmed the progress the company was making against its strategic priorities, which in time will rebase the business to deliver "a more focused portfolio" with higher-quality, faster-growing properties, and deliver future earnings growth.
"Management has entered H2 with cautious optimism, having seen signs of improving market fundamentals. While we understand the market's negative sentiment, we believe the share price reaction is overdone," said Berenberg, which reiterated its 'buy' rating on the stock.
Berenberg added that CLS currently trades at a roughly 73% discount to its estimate of spot net asset values, offering a prospective 7.0% dividend yield.
"Our updated price target implies a circa 60% discount to our trough net tangible asset of 208p. Execution risk remains while there is more deleveraging to do in a tough market, but history suggests successful execution may be rewarding," said the analysts.
Peel Hunt has downgraded insurer Admiral Group, weighing on the shares, on a weaker outlook for UK motor underwriting margins. In a note published on Friday, the broker cut its rating to 'sell' from 'reduce', and upped its target price to 2,350p from 2,270p.
It said the outlook for UK motor underwriting margins was starting to deteriorate, albeit from a high base, as rates continue to soften.
"We believe discipline will be required across the UK motor market in the second half of 2025 to avoid a sharp deterioration in underwriting margins in 2026. Admiral has gained considerable market share in UK motor over the past two years and it should be interesting to see how far it will go to protect this," said Peel Hunt.
It added that it was unwinding its discounted cash flow model to end-2025, which lifts its target price and values Admiral at 12x 2026 price-to-earnings. In contrast, it noted that the stock currently trades at 18x 2026 P/E.
"Given the notable premium to our fair value assumption, and with around 30% downside to our new target price, we downgrade our rating from 'reduce' to 'sell'," said Peel Hunt. "While the dividend yield is attractive, we believe it is more than offset by the valuation premium at which the shares currently trade."
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