Broker research is an important consideration in the strategies of many investors. Reading up on what the experts think - and examining whether they believe a share is a 'buy', 'hold' or 'sell' - can be very useful. For investors, these kinds of recommendations can be a useful consideration - especially when you listen to the consensus view of all the analysts that cover a stock.
Take Smiths (LON:SMIN) as an example. Shares in the company have risen by 5.72% over the past month and they are currently trading at 1628. But what do the analysts that cover the company think?
Based on the broker 'consensus', there could be reasons to believe that the positive recent trend will continue. In terms of trading recommendations, Smiths currently has:
- 3 Buy recommendations
- 3 Hold recommendations
- 0 Sell recommendations
This suggests that analysts are generally upbeat about the outlook.
At its current price of 1628, shares in Smiths are trading at a discount of -2.64% to its 52 week high price. The 1-year performance of the shares has been 31.0%.
While analyst forecasts can be a useful guide to what City 'experts' think about a stock's near term future, they can be unreliable. To get a better idea about the strengths and weaknesses of Smiths it's worth doing some investigation yourself. Indeed, we've identified some areas of concern with Smiths that you can find out about here.