Berenberg stays at 'sell' on Rolls Royce due to medium-term risks

(Sharecast News) - Analysts at Berenberg kept their recommendation for shares of engineer Rolls Royce at 'sell' following its analysis of current positioning in the company's shares among long-only and hedge fund investors. The latter, in particular, were "very crowded" and long the shares, but had "little to no interest" in taking profits at present, Berenberg said.

Long-only investors on the other hand were "assumed" to be underweight the shares, so if they shifted their stance that might drive further share price gains.

"However, putting near-term tactics to one side, we would argue the positives are in the price and assume enthusiasm wanes as tangible catalysts crystalise next month, noting we have found very limited interest from prospective long-only buyers," they said.

They also highlighted that their caution was linked to the risks to the mid-term expectations, given the 220% rally in the share price over the course of 2023.

"Overall, nothing matters more than the long-term service agreement economics in our view, where investors are seemingly happy to take management guidance in full," they added.

The analysts' target price for the shares was unchanged at 240.0p.