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Investing.com - Barclays (LON:BARC) downgraded Just Group PLC (LON:JUST) to Equalweight from Overweight on Friday, while raising its price target to GBP2.20 from GBP1.85 following the company’s first-half 2025 results.
The downgrade comes despite the higher price target, with Barclays citing the recent increase in Just Group’s share price as the primary reason for the rating change. The investment bank noted that Just Group’s 1H25 results "disappointed on most metrics."
Barclays expressed little concern about Just Group’s sales miss relative to first-half expectations, pointing out that bulk annuities are "lumpy by nature" with industry volumes typically skewed toward the second half of the year. Historically, 64% of deals execute in the second half on average.
The research firm lowered its discount rate from 14% to 12%, citing structural support for UK bulk annuities and Just Group’s "continued robust organic capital generation and capital position" as factors in the price target increase.
Just Group’s management considers its pipeline to be robust, a sentiment that Barclays noted has been echoed by industry peers, including Legal & General (LON:LGEN).
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