Surge in Pension Funds

Surge in pension funds drives corporate bond revival and all stock picks are 82% BUY, 9% SELL and 9% HOLD.

1. AVOID Engage XR

Top stock pick this week is AVOID Engage XR Holdings by Steve Moore in ShareProphets with a tip performance of 21%.

The virtual reality metaverse company is based in Ireland and was founded in 2014.

Engage XR Holdings share price launched at 12p in March 2018, rose to an all-time high of 24p later that year in May 2018 and is today at 3p.

On20 Feb Engage XR released an RNS about Major Contract wins however Steve Moore in his article questions how major the wins are, and examines the accounting accompanying the optimistic narrative.

Steve Moore is the only analyst in Stockomendation with AVOID and there are no active short positions open.

2. BUY XP Power

Second interesting stock pick this week is BUY XP Power by Berenberg with a tip performance of 10%.

Headquartered in Singapore and founded in 1988, XP Power is a manufacturer and supplier of critical power control systems and also handles the design, development and support of power control systems.

XP Power share price launched at 522p 2000, reached an all-time high of 5,610p 2010 and is today at 1,074p.

Berenberg lowered the target price from 1,700.0p to 1,400.0 saying the “trading update was disappointing” but stuck with a BUY rating saying "a 15x P/E multiple for FY 2025 as a recovery year remains achievable, and so reiterate our 'buy' recommendation."

Predictably as the share price collapsed by 40%, people did indeed buy XP Power, making the tip come true.

Three of four analysts in Stockomendation say BUY they are Steve Moore, Jefferies and Berenberg, with Daniel Liberto saying HOLD. There are four active fund manager short positions currently open, view those here.

3. HOLD Close Brothers

Third interesting stock pick this week is HOLD Close Brothers Group by Russ Mould in The Telegraph - Questor with a tip performance of 8%

The London merchant banker founded in 1878 employs 3,700 employees in 47 offices in the UK and Germany.

Famously Close Brothers has made short sellers a lot of money this week and has been in the headlines for all the wrong (or right) reasons… depending on what side of the transaction you were.

Mould in his article admits he made a mess of it which meant whilst some dumped shares and profited, his readers held and …. well, didn’t.

This week his HOLD tip is in the top 3, small comfort to some.

In Stockomendation there are five analysts, Canaccord Genuity says SPECULATIVE BUY, RBC Capital says SECTOR PERFORM, Russ Mould and Shore Capital say HOLD and Berenberg says BUY. Six active short positions open, view those here.

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Disclaimer: The contents of this article should not be considered financial advice. Pricing data correct as at 22nd February 2024.