Source: Sharecast
The broker, which cut its rating from 'hold' just last month, said recent news flow supported its view and 495.0p target price, which indicates a 24% downside to Rightmove's current share price.
Australian real estate information giant CoStar is continuing to make moves in the UK through its OnTheMarket business, while real estate sentiment towards Rightmove is continuing to sour – as evidenced by a recent petition for a CMA investigation into pricing practices at the firm.
Meanwhile, last week's speculation that CoStar was interested in buying Australia's number-two property marketplace Domain – second only to REA, which was rebuffed in a takeover attempt of Rightmove last year – means that REA is unlikely to attempt another takeover of the UK company, Jefferies said.
"Alongside the risk that REA now faces with a potential new entrant in its domestic market, we also consider the 6 Feb news that REA's CEO, Owen Wilson, intends to retire in 2H25. He is highly regarded in the industry and, crucially, was a key architect of the Rightmove bid," the broker said.
However, despite the negative newsflow, Rightmove's shares were still trading at an 18% premium to the level prior to the REA bid in September.
Analysts at Berenberg nudged up their target price on insurer Admiral Group from 3,292.0p to 3,300.0p on Wednesday ahead of the company's FY24 results next week.
Berenberg pointed out that since its January 2025 outlook note, Admiral shares were up more than 10% and, heading into the FY24 results, it remains positive on both the company and the sector.
"Our FY24 and FY25 EPS estimates are 5% and 4% above consensus estimates respectively (we note our above-consensus estimate in FY24 is partly driven by a better IFRS 17 quota share result, which we do not expect to repeat in FY25)," said Berenberg.
The German bank also noted that it expects investors will be "keenly listening" for updates on pricing developments in Q125 and Admiral's perspective on the latest Financial Conduct Authority regulatory developments.
"We maintain our view that the market is overly negative on pricing and regulatory risks and, with the stock trading at a 20% discount to its five-year average, we continue to find the valuation attractive," said Berenberg, which reiterated its 'buy' rating on the stock.
Analysts at Canaccord Genuity reiterated their 135.0p target price on airside solutions developer Aurrigo International on Wednesday following the group's "positive" year-end trading update a day earlier.
Aurrigo's trading update indicated FY24 revenues of £8.9m, in line with Canaccord Genuity's estimates, cash of £3.0m, also in line, and an underlying loss of £1.9m, ahead of expectations of a £2.7m loss.
Canaccord said the better-than-expected earnings were down to the capitalisation of certain development expenses in Aurrigo's autonomous division, in particular relating to its auto-cargo project with UPS.
The Canadian bank made "no material changes" to its 2025 forecasts but updated 2024 numbers to account for its better-than-expected earnings performance.
Before then, we expect there to be further positive progress, notably both on the ADT implementation with Singapore Changi and on the auto-cargo project," said Canaccord, which reiterated its 'speculative buy' rating on the stock. "The company also highlighted that following the completion of the £5.25mn funding round in January it remains well capitalised to support the next phase of growth."
