Weir tops FTSE 100, buoyed by encouraging rig count numbers
Engineering company Weir Group was up 3.7% at 2,008p on Tuesday, topping the FTSE 100 leader board , with Jefferies pointing to data from US peer Baker Hughes out last Friday, which showed that the number of US oil rigs fell at the slowest pace in 24 weeks last week.
Baker Hughes Inc.
$57.68
11:00 05/06/19
FTSE 100
7,877.05
17:14 18/04/24
FTSE 350
4,334.00
17:14 18/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,290.02
16:54 18/04/24
Industrial Engineering
13,682.71
17:14 18/04/24
Weir Group
1,993.00p
17:15 18/04/24
“We note a further sequential moderation in the pace of decline in last week's rig count data (the total US rig count fell by only one last week, which is the slowest weekly decline since December 2014),” Jefferies said in a note.
It added that Weir continues to be a stock that is gathering interest with investors, and with last week's rig count data showing a slowing pace of decline, Jefferies suspects this will increase further.
“Weir is potentially at an interesting inflection point if this data point continues its recent momentum,” it added.
However, there is still uncertainty over near-term downside risk to numbers, the valuation appears full and the market is therefore struggling with the right timing of an entry point, Jefferies noted.
It pointed out that the shares have risen 10% in the last month, significantly outperforming the industrial sector and the UK market, despite earnings revisions still being negative and with downside risk to current consensus.