Australia's Steadfast falls; Macquarie downgrades to 'neutral' on premium rate pressure

Steadfast

19/11/2025 03:46

** Australia's Steadfast SDF.AX falls as much as 5.4% to A$5.080, its lowest since October 31

** Analysts at Macquarie downgrade Steadfast to "neutral" from "outperform", lower price target to A$4.90 from A$7

** Macquarie says softness in premium rate cycle to persist longer than 12 months, putting pressure on Steadfast's ability to centralise its insurance broker units

** Brokerage adds it found an accelerating pace of commission rate cuts for home and personal motor, which is worse for Steadfast than insurance market averages

** Macquarie cuts its FY26 earnings guidance for the insurance broker by 0.2%

** Eight of 11 analysts rate the stock "buy" and three rate "hold"; set median price target at A$6.70, according to data compiled by LSEG

**  YTD, SDF declines 12.4%

 (Reporting by Keshav Singh Chundawat in Bengaluru)

 ((Keshav.singhchundawat@thomsonreuters.com))