AlphaValue reiterated its “Buy” rating on ARM Holdings, down 5%, and kept its target price at 1219p. The broker also maintained its “Reduce” rating on Johnson Matthey, down 4.4%, with a target price of 3125p.
DS Smith added 0.7%, and announced that its UK packaging division has made a £12m investment within its sheetfeeding business, which will open at its Blunham site and replace its existing machinery with a new advanced corrugator. Greene King, up 0.1%, announced that its full year revenue improved marginally to £1,315.3m from £1,301.6m recorded last year, while the company’s profit before tax stood at £118.2m, compared to £105.2m. The stock was subjected to mixed reviews from various brokers.
Liberum Capital maintained its “Buy” recommendation on Sepura, up 2.2%, with a target price of 202p. Panmure Gordon was also positive, restating its “Buy” rating on the stock with a target price of 190p.
Investec maintained its “Add” rating on Xaar, down 0.6%, with a target price of 415p. Vernalis, down 0.7%, announced that Dr. Ian David Gilham has been appointed to the Board as a Non-Executive Director with effect from 1 July 2015. N+1 Singer maintained its “Buy” rating on the stock and raised its target price on the stock to 93p from 89p.
Abcam, down 0.9%, announced that it has appointed Suzanne Smith as the new Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary, with effect from 6 July 2015. JPMorgan Chase raised its target price on the stock to 506p from 487p but maintained its “Neutral” rating.
Kier Group’s share price fell 1%. In its trading update the company announced that its performance in all four divisions has remained in track with its expectations. Kier also announced that it has completed the sale of its fleet and passenger services business, Kier FPS Limited to Alpha Holdco 1 Limited, an entity managed by Endless LLP, in a deal worth £17.9m paid in full on completion. Liberum Capital and Westhouse Securities maintained their “Hold” and “Buy” ratings on the stock with respective target prices of 1400p and 2110p.
Dialight, down 2.3%, announced that it has appointed David Blood as a Non-Executive Director with immediate effect. Numis Securities and Panmure Gordon restated their “Add” and “Hold” ratings on AVEVA Group, down 3%, respectively with price targets of 2200p and 1974p. Blinkx, down 3.5%, announced that Mr. Anthony Bettencourt would step down as Chairman with effect from 1 July 2015. Raj Chellaraj, the Non-Executive Director of the company will assume the role of Chairman.
UK markets ended weaker over the previous week, amid uncertainties surrounding the Greek debt crisis and after Greece called for a referendum to decide its stance on the austerity measures proposed. The FTSE 100 index declined 2.5% to finish at 6585.8, while the FTSE AIM 100 Index lost 0.7% to finish at 3,418.7. The FTSE techMARK 100 Index edged 1.5% lower to close at 3,823.4.
US markets closed lower last week, as soft non-farm payrolls data for June and a decline in factory orders for May dented investor sentiment. The DJIA index declined 1.2% to end at 17,730.1, while the NASDAQ Index retreated 1.4% to settle at 5,009.2.
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