Broker tips: Berkeley Group, Antofagasta, Next 15

(Sharecast News) - Housebuilder Berkeley Group got a boost on Wednesday after JPMorgan lifted the stock to 'overweight' from 'neutral' and hiked its price target on the stock to 5,000p from 4,700p. JPM noted that in recent years, London's housebuilding has collapsed amid a "perfect storm" of regulatory and affordability issues. However, the bank now sees reason for trends to inflect with policy support on the horizon.

"As well as potential improving trends in its core housebuilding business, our detailed analysis in our UK Housing: Rental 101 published this morning has showcased a supply/demand mismatch and thus we now see a highly attractive setup in the London rental market and Berkeley's Build to Rent platform offers a direct exposure to these trends which is unique among its peers," it said.

JPM said it also sees a highly compelling capital allocation framework, with the company committing to return a further £1.7bn by 2034, which equates to about 44% of its market cap. It also said this could rise to 78%, when considering the flexible allocation of £1.3bn which could also be returned to shareholders.

JPM said the valuation looks undemanding with the stock on a 40% discount versus its historical P/TNAV, while the sector is on a 31% discount.

Analysts at Canaccord Genuity downgraded copper miner Antofagasta from 'buy' to 'hold' on Wednesday but hiked their target price on the stock from 3,165p to 4,100p, stating they now see "more limited upside" than they had in 2025.

Canaccord Genuity said it had now incorporated all 2025 and 2026 guidance into its model for Antofagasta, with its FY25 net debt assumptions being higher due to the guided $770m working cap outflow, while its FY26 net debt was higher mainly on the higher guided capex due to Antofagasta's Los Pelambres asset.

"Just last week ANTO hit a high of 4176p, pricing in most of our forecast value in the year ahead, before reversing sharply. We have increased our 2026 EBITDA forecast based on better gold production and higher copper pricing," said Canaccord Genuity. "However, this incremental value is partially offset by the higher net debt we now forecast next year."

The Canadian bank also rolled out its valuation to 2027, but even based on net asset value and enterprise value/underlying earnings multiples of 1.2x and 10x, respectively, at a 20% premium to the rest of the sector, it sees "more limited upside" this year.

"With just 6% potential upside to our revised target price, we downgrade Antofagasta to a 'hold' rating (from 'buy'). We think potential upside in ANTO is more limited in 2026 than it was in 2025, and that copper investors can now find better value in some of the smaller cap copper names," added Canaccord.

Berenberg lowered its target price on marketing conglomerate Next 15 from 580p to 510p on Wednesday following the group's capital markets day on 28 January, which it said provided clarity on the strategic direction of the business under its new management team.

Berenberg said Next 15's medium-term target of 50% AOP growth from "Track 1" businesses was "ambitious, but achievable" in its view, given the six businesses in Track 1 were all in structural growth markets.

The German bank, which has a 'buy' rating on the stock, stated transparency from new divisional reporting should help the market value Next 15 better, and it still sees potential for a re-rating.

"We decrease our FY27 adjusted operating forecasts by c7% to account for asset disposals and the increased investment in key businesses, partly offset by cost efficiencies. As a result, our price target falls to 510p, which still indicates 45% upside," said Berenberg.

"The shares trade on a FY27E of 7.8x, and an EV/EBITDA of 6.0x, with the Mach49 arbitration, set for March, weighing on the valuation."