Citi upgrades G4S to 'buy'
Citi upgraded its view on G4S stock to 'buy', pointing to an acceleration in organic growth, cost savings, benefits from re-financing and the possibility that the company might benefit from consolidation in its sector.
FTSE 100
7,877.05
17:14 18/04/24
FTSE 350
4,334.00
17:14 18/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,290.02
16:54 18/04/24
G4S
244.80p
16:40 04/05/21
Support Services
10,449.40
17:14 18/04/24
After troughing in the first quarter of 2018, growth was seen accelerating towards 5% thereafer.
The broker's analysts were also upbeat on the outlook for its Cash360 offering.
"G4S is ideally positioned to rapidly grow a portfolio of Cash360 high-margin contracts and we forecast 25% top line growth from 2019. Walmart is an important reference client, providing valuable client testimonials."
In parallel, in EBITA terms the security specialist's operating margins were seen improving from 6.6% in 2017 to 7.0% by 2019.
The broker also pointed out how on 13.5 times its estimated EV/EBITA multiple, the shares were changing hands at an 11% discount to the business services sector.
Citi set its target price for the shares at 350p.