Ariston jumps after Citi upgrade

Ariston Holding

04/06/2024 08:17

(Adds share price move in 1 bullet point, milestones in 6)
    ** Italy's Ariston Holding  ARIS.MI  rises around 7% after
Citigroup upgrades it to "buy" from "neutral", saying that an
"undemanding" valuation and the improving market leave room for
the heating solutions group's share price to recover 
    ** Citi notes that Ariston's shares dropped sharply since
summer 2023 and have underperformed STOXX Industrial Goods and
Services index  .SXNP  by about 60%, but it believes Q1 marks
peak pain for the company
    ** "An end to heat-pump channel destocking by end-Q2,
bottoming in European construction leading indicators, and the
recent reset lower of consensus expectations leaves room for the
stock to recover as the market improves into 2025" - Citi
    ** However, the broker cuts its estimates for a slower
recovery and a potential loss of Ariston's Russian business
    ** It lowers it PT by 11% to 5.80 euros, which it says still
leaves a "solid upside"
    ** If gains hold, the stock will see its best day since
December; up to the previous session's close it was down 27% YTD
        
  

 (Reporting by Alessandro Parodi)
 ((alessandro.parodi@thomsonreuters.com))