Air Liquide: leads CAC 40, as Jefferies upgrades to buy

(CercleFinance.com) - On Wednesday, Air Liquide shares were the biggest winners in the CAC 40 index, following a double upgrade from 'underperform' to 'buy' by analysts at Jefferies.


Shortly before 2pm, the stock was up around 1%, while the French blue-chip index was down 0.4%: meanwhile, the chemicals sector is up 0.2%.

In a sector report on Wednesday, Jefferies analysts explain that they prefer manufacturers of industrial gases to suppliers of consumer chemicals.

It says that Air Liquide is in a position to improve its operating margins on the back of its price increases, an improvement which could even be increased in the event of a recovery in volumes.

Regarding its valuation, the stock is trading at a 19% discount to consumer chemical companies in terms of its P/E-growth (PEG) ratio, it points out.

The broker has raised its TP to E190.


Copyright (c) 2024 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.