Post-earnings broker moves: Audinate, ANZ, Aurizon, Boral, Beach Energy, CAR & JB Hi-fi

Earnings season is well and truly in full swing this week with several big names already reporting results. Indeed, according to Morgan Stanley, a whopping 38% of the Australian stock market’s market capitalisation will have reported by the close of business on Friday.

There have been a number of major surprises among the cohort which have already reported, triggering a raft of broker upgrades, downgrades, and price target changes. Here’s an overview of the most interesting broker moves that have come across the Market Index desk so far!

Audinate Group (ASX: AD8)

Price target upgrades for Audinate

Average rating: BUY

Average price target / increase: $20.32 +43% (vs 12 Feb close $19.33 = +5.1%)

• Retained at buy at UBS; Price Target: $21.05 from $13.55

• Retained at overweight at Morgan Stanley; Price Target: $22.00 from $13.30

• Retained at neutral at Macquarie; Price Target: $17.90 from $15.80

Notes: It’s safe to say brokers were positively surprised by Audinate’s results, with the largest price target revisions among the group reviewed today.

ANZ Group (ASX: ANZ)

The average price target suggests ANZ is potentially fully valued

Average rating: NEUTRAL

Average price target / increase: $26.99 +0.2% (vs 12 Feb close $28.04 = -3.7%)

• Retained at neutral at Citi; Price Target: $26.00

• Retained at buy at Goldman Sachs; Price Target: $27.84

• Retained at neutral at UBS; Price Target: $25.00

• Retained at overweight at Morgan Stanley; Price Target: $27.40

• Retained at neutral at Macquarie; Price Target: $25.00

• Retained at neutral at Jarden; Price Target: $26.70 from $26.30

• Retained at accumulate at Ord Minnett; Price Target: $31.00

Notes: Apart from Ord Minnett, which appears to be the clear outlier, the price targets above suggest most brokers are sceptical that ANZ can continue much higher after its recent run.

Aurizon Holdings (ASX: AZJ)

Ord Minnett is the clear outlier on Aurizon

Average rating: NEUTRAL

Average price target / increase: $3.98 +1.1% (vs 12 Feb close $3.78 = +5.2%)

• Downgraded to neutral from positive at E&P; Price Target: $3.97 from $4.00

• Retained at neutral at Citi; Price Target: $4.00 from $3.90

• Retained at neutral at Goldman Sachs; Price Target: $4.05

• Retained at neutral at UBS; Price Target: $3.80 from $3.65

• Retained at underweight at Morgan Stanley; Price Target: $3.49

• Retained at neutral at Macquarie; Price Target: $3.85 from $3.88

• Retained at neutral at Jarden; Price Target: $3.95 from $3.80

• Retained at accumulate at Ord Minnett; Price Target: $4.70

Notes: Apart from Ord Minnett (super bullish) and Morgan Stanley (super bearish), there’s a reasonably tight consensus on Aurizon around the $3.80-$4.00 mark.  

Beach Energy (ASX: BPT)

Generally, brokers see some upside for Beach Energy

Average rating: BUY

Average price target / increase: $1.89 +4.6% (vs 12 Feb close $1.71 = +10.5%)

• Upgraded to outperform from neutral at Macquarie; Price Target: $1.95 from $1.55

• Upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital Markets; Price Target: $1.95 from $1.70

• Retained at neutral at Citi; Price Target: $1.65

• Retained at sell at Goldman Sachs; Price Target: $1.67 from $1.66

• Retained at buy at Bell Potter; Price Target: $1.90

• Retained at equal-weight at Morgan Stanley; Price Target: $1.65

• Retained at overweight at Jarden; Price Target: $1.85

• Retained at accumulate at Ord Minnett; Price Target: $2.50

Notes: This is probably the stock with the clearest bullish consensus among this group, both in terms of broker rating and price target. 

Boral (ASX: BLD)

Morgan Stanley aren’t anywhere near as positive on Boral as their peers

Average rating: NEUTRAL

Average price target / increase: $5.8 +14.9% (vs 12 Feb close $5.75 = +0.9%)

• Upgraded to outperform from underperform at CLSA; Price Target: $6.40 from $5.30

• Downgraded to neutral from overweight at Jarden; Price Target: $5.80 from $5.35

• Retained at sell at Citi; Price Target: $5.60 from $4.60

• Retained at hold at Bell Potter; Price Target: $6.30 from $5.15

• Retained at outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $6.40 from $6.00

• Retained at underperform at Morgan Stanley; Price Target: $4.30 from $3.90

Notes: It looks like brokers have had to play a little catch-up with Boral, but they’re still only seeing roughly fair value around the current price.

CAR Group (ASX: CAR)

CAR’s results drove many price target increases, but also a few downgrades

Average rating: NEUTRAL

Average price target / increase: $33.06 +8.6% (vs 12 Feb close $34.03 = -2.8%)

• Downgraded to neutral from outperform at Macquarie; Price Target: $32.70 from $35.30

• Downgraded to neutral from overweight at Barrenjoey; Price Target: $36.00 from $30.00

• Downgraded to underperform from outperform at CLSA; Price Target: $35.00 from $31.00

• Retained at neutral at Citi; Price Target: $34.30

• Retained at neutral at Goldman Sachs; Price Target: $33.00 from $32.00

• Retained at buy at UBS; Price Target: $38.50 from $32.40

• Retained at underweight at Jarden; Price Target: $29.00 from $27.50

• Retained at lighten at Ord Minnett; Price Target: $26.00 from $25.00

Notes: Ord Minnett appears to be the outlier again, but this time to the bear side. CAR is another stock that the brokers have had to play catch up on, and it looks like a few of them feel it doesn’t have much further to run from current levels.

JB Hi-Fi (ASX: JBH)

Surprisingly, there is little faith in JB Hi-fi given the stock price performance post-results!

Average rating: NEUTRAL

Average price target / increase: $54.72 +14.1% (vs 12 Feb close $57.47 = -4.8%)

• Upgraded to neutral from negative at E&P; Price Target: $56.19 from $43.43

• Upgraded to hold from underperform at Jefferies; Price Target: $52.50 from $38.50

• Retained at buy at Citi; Price Target: $65.00

• Retained at neutral at Goldman Sachs; Price Target: $56.50 from $54.10

• Retained at neutral at UBS; Price Target: $60.00 from $55.00

• Retained at underweight at Morgan Stanley; Price Target: $50.00 from $43.90

• Retained at neutral at Macquarie; Price Target: $64.00 from $55.00

• Retained at underweight at Jarden; Price Target: $50.80 from $40.20

• Retained at sell at Ord Minnett; Price Target: $37.50 from $36.40

Notes: Kudos to Citi with their standing $65 price target. Everyone else has had to play catch up to JB Hi-fi’s stunning price performance since the October lows. Judging by the conservatism of their new price targets, one can assume that brokers remain sceptical that JB Hi-fi can maintain its current stock price momentum. Based on the price at the time of writing, today’s gain puts JB Hi-fi a whopping 16% above the average broker price target!

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