Analysts at Berenberg hiked their target price on construction firm Balfour Beatty Plc from 710p to 760p on Friday, stating the group's "order book strength shines through".
Berenberg said Balfour Beatty's full-year 2025 trading update on 4 December highlighted that it had continued to perform well and that it was on track to achieve full-year earnings expectations.
The German bank noted that Balfour's order book was expected to grow by roughly 20% in FY25, mainly driven by the its UK construction exposure, which it pointed out has seen over £3.5bn of new power generation orders in the year.
Additionally, Bernberg highlighted that average monthly net cash was now expected to be at the top end of previous guidance of £1.1bn-1.2bn, which gives Balfour "plenty of options".
"Overall, this represents a really strong statement from Balfour and sets the business up well as we head into FY26. We update our numbers for various factors - including now assuming a 2026 buyback - resulting in 2- 5% upgrades across the forecast period," said Berenberg, which reiterated its 'buy' rating on the stock.
Berenberg also pointed out that Balfour shares currently trade on a 14.2x FY26 price-to-earnings ratio and 8.1x EBIT.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com