LONDON (ShareCast) - JP Morgan has lowered its price target on the Irish cider firm C&C to €37 from €39 following last week’s gloomy trading statement.
The Magners maker downgraded its guidance for the full year August 29.
“We do not think further downgrades are a surprise to investors given poor weather in Ireland and GB and market data showing Magners losing share in GB off trade,” the broker said.
Growth in the cider sector remains strong, but C&C may find it difficult to raise its market share, JPM said.
“Sunshine may no longer be enough to draw a line under the decline,” it said.
JPM keeps its ‘neutral’ rating on C&C
Merrill Lynch has downgraded its recommendation on engineer Bodycote to ‘underperform’ from ‘neutral’ citing the company’s negative earnings outlook.
Bodycote, which provides services such as metallurgical coating and heat treating, announced last week that it would sell its testing unit.
KBC Peel Hunt has maintained its ‘buy’ recommendation on Innovation Group despite cutting its estimates on the insurance software firm.
The broker lowered its 2008 profits forecast on the company by £500,000 to £16.4m.
However, it pointed out that Innovation’s exposure to the vulnerable South African market is small at only 3%.
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