Source: Sharecast
Melrose was the standout gainer as Citi said it remains "high conviction" in the ‘buy’ case, citing the trough multiple and the strong mid-term cash outlook.
United Utilities and Severn Trent were both higher on the back of positive broker notes from Citi and JPMorgan Cazenove ahead of Ofwat’s Final Determinations next month.
Citi upgraded United Utilities to ‘buy’, saying it was the best way to gain exposure ahead of Ofwat’s regulatory review. It also upgraded SVT to ‘neutral’.
Meanwhile, JPM lifted Severn Trent to ‘overweight’ from ‘neutral’, saying the premium to the sector is justified given its expectations of RCV growth and future outperformance, underpinned by the "best-in-class track record".
It maintained its ‘overweight’ rating on UU, saying it sees upside on conservative assumptions for outperformance in the next regulatory period, with upside risk to growth at FD.
Asset manager Schroders tumbled as it reported net outflows of £2.3bn for the third quarter.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Melrose Industries (MRO) 493.90p 4.15%
3i Group (III) 3,307.00p 3.31%
BT Group (BT.A) 146.25p 2.88%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,053.50p 2.58%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,627.00p 2.22%
Pearson (PSON) 1,177.50p 1.86%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 393.20p 1.81%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,266.00p 1.73%
Next (NXT) 10,045.00p 1.65%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,740.00p 1.54%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Schroders (SDR) 315.00p -13.37%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,288.00p -6.83%
Spirax Group (SPX) 6,425.00p -1.91%
GSK (GSK) 1,391.00p -1.63%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,826.00p -1.62%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 17,455.00p -1.55%
Croda International (CRDA) 3,706.00p -1.51%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,430.00p -1.15%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 597.50p -0.99%
Haleon (HLN) 368.20p -0.97%
