The analysts
The analysts Geof Collyer Deutsche Bank, Jamie Rollo Morgan Stanley, Mark Brumby Blue Oar Securities, Douglas Jack, Numis Securities Paul Hickman, KBC Peel Hunt (33)
Why they are on the list:
Our choice of five analysts recognises the key role City stock watchers play in creating share price momentum. The past year has seen the most dramatic movements in share prices in living memory, driven to an extent by the Square Mile soothsayers.
What the past year has held:
Our five named analysts show just how divided opinion has been this year on the prospects for the largest tenanted operators, for example. Rollo and Brumby have been the most bearish, worried about low tenant incomes and what that means for the value of the equity as it's impacted by impaired property values. Hickman has been somewhere in the middle, wary at times, pointing to opportunities at other times for those who like a certain kind of risk-to-reward ratio. He acknowledged in early March that the upside on Punch and Enterprise shares is sizeable if debt obstacles can be negotiated. Jack and Collyer have been at the bullish end of the spectrum, with share price targets for Enterprise, for example, north of 200p.
Challenges ahead:
Getting stock predictions right in the current climate would tax Mystic Meg. Be especially interesting to see who is getting it right this year.
