Peel Hunt upgrades Cranswick to 'buy'

(Sharecast News) - Peel Hunt upgraded Cranswick to 'buy' from 'add' on Monday and hiked the price target to 6,600p from 6,100p, saying it expects first-half volumes to increase by around 6% and pre-tax profit by approximately 8%, helped by customer growth in fresh foods and share gains. The broker highlighted "impressive" returns and said Cranswick's return on capital employed demonstrates the strength of its business model. It also said the potential investment in Grimsby could nearly double poultry primary processing.

"Cranswick is performing well, delivering strong returns and healthy free cash flow," Peel Hunt said.

"In our view, the shares have subsided since the summer for no good reason, and the current level provides an attractive entry point."

Peel Hunt noted the shares are trading on circa 15x price-to-earnings and 7.8x EV/EBITDA to March 2028E, which is at the low end of their historical trading range.

At 1345 BST, Cranswick shares were up 2.1% at 5,090p.