The Week Ahead: Cupid's love arrows find their mark
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Analysts' hearts are all a flutter. Scribes at Peel Hunt have got the hots for the dating website group Cupid, which recently bought Assistance Genie Logiciel, a French dating firm that owns brands including amour.com and serencontrer.com. A love note from the analyst issued a buy rating for the stock and said higher marketing spend is "being rewarded with high rates of growth in new markets". Half-year sales are expected to be around £8m. Peel Hunt's target price for the stock is 290p.
Results/Updates: Biome Tehnologies, Staffline Recruitment, City of London Investment Group, Kofax, Sweett.
Tomorrow
The animal genetics company Genus's biggest issue is feed prices, according to analysts. Scribes at Peel Hunt think the price rises will initially hit Genus, but added: "Some customers may well struggle in the short term, but generally higher feed prices are good news for Genus as it accelerates the trend to industrialisation of the industry and reinforces the benefits of genetics in improving feed conversion." An update on expansion in China should be on the agenda at its full-year results on Tuesday. Peel Hunt set a target price of 1,500p for the stock.
Results/Updates: Abbey Protection, Hydro International, Johnson Service, Lupus Capital, Quindell Portfolio, Stadium, Total Produce, Alumasc, Craneware, Dechra Pharmaceuticals, McBride, Monitise, Pacific Horizon, Greene King, Smith (DS), Spirit Pub Company
Wednesday
Strong land acquisitions will boost the housebuilder Berkeley Homes, analysts at Deutsche Bank bet. In July Berkeley stated it was "well-positioned" to reach its target of £220m pre-tax profit in 2013, and scribes at Deutsche think management will reiterate this view in the trading update on Wednesday. It rates the stock a buy with a price target of 1572p.
Results/Updates: 32Red, Advanced Medical Solutions, Corero Network Security, Smart Metering Systems, Hargreaves Lansdown, Mucklow, Sports Direct.
Thursday
The coffee shop to hotel group Whitbread will release its second-quarter trading update on Thursday, but analysts at Barclays think the quarter will give little read-across to future quarters due to the idiosyncrasies of the Olympics and Jubilee, as well as being against tough comparable data in previous quarters. Barclays labelled the stock its leisure "top pick" last week .
Bradford-based Wm Morrison will reveal its half-year results, and analysts at Jefferies concede that although the update will "bear the scars of weather challenges" the retailer will have been resilient to the difficulties faced. Jefferies grades the shares a buy at 350p. Meanwhile Shore Capital scribes retain their sell status on the shares and argue that the full-year consensus has fallen from around £978m to £938m over the last three quarters. Barclays' scribes are also less than impressed and cut the stock's target price to 295p, from 320p.
Philip Dorgan, analyst at Panmure Gordon & Co, thinks the electrical retailer Dixons is a "compelling recovery story". When the purveyor of TVs and washing machines updates the market at its AGM, Mr Dorgan expects it to continue to be the strongest multichannel operator, and maintains a buy recommendation with a target price of 28p.
Results/Updates: Interims: Hydrodec, Randall & Quilter, SQS Software, Valiant Petroleum, CPL Resources, Go-Ahead, Aer Lingus, Chemring, easyJet.
Friday
Peel Hunt retains its bearish stance on all recruitment firms at the moment. But Peel Hunt's Henry Carver said: "SThree is our favourite due to its strength in the more resilient IT sector and its very strong balance sheet." It issued a hold rating on the stock with a target price of 265p.
Economics Diary
Today
Manufacturing purchasing managers' index.
Tomorrow
British Retail Consortium sales for August, shop price index, construction purchasing managers' index.
Wednesday
Services purchasing managers' index.
Thursday
Bank of England asset purchase target, new car registrations.
Friday
Industrial production, manufacturing output, producer price index.
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