Barclays upgraded United Utilities on Wednesday, saying it sees “better prospects” for the water sector amid an improving outlook, as it lifted price targets across all three big names.
The bank said the Cunliffe Review should lead to a resilient, lower-risk sector and that capex will continue to rise with a focus shifting to water resilience, asset health and PFAS.
PFAs are a large family of synthetic chemicals used across a variety of applications due to their durability and resistance to heat, water, and oil.
Barclays also said that better performers should see returns ahead of requirement.
The bank upgraded UU to ‘overweight’ from ‘equalweight’ and lifted the price target to 1,535p from 1,280p. It said there was 35% upside to the PT.
“We believe UU to be an attractive value proposition,” it said. “We estimate the group is trading at a cheap 10.0% premium to March 2026 RAB. If UU were to remain at a 10% premium to RCV by 2030, it would deliver circa 11.5% IRR through to 2030.”
It kept Pennon at ‘overweight’, saying it was its “preferred” overweight in the sector, and upped the price target to 670p from 650p.
The bank left Severn Trent at ‘equalweight’ but hiked the price target to 3,385p from 2,960p.