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Important information: The value of investments can go down as well as up so you may get back less than you invest. Investors should note that the views expressed may no longer be current and may have already been acted upon. This is a third-party news feed and may not reflect Fidelity’s views.

Shore Capital hails long-term growth potential at Compass

(Sharecast News) - Shares in Compass jumped on Tuesday after a strong third-quarter update from the catering group, prompting broker Shore Capital to reiterate its longstanding 'buy' recommendation on the stock. Analyst Greg Johnson noted in a research note that the stock's valuation multiple is currently at the higher end of the range its been over the past decade - EV/EBITDA of 14x, compared with the 12-15x range since 2015 excluding the pandemic years.

However, he said: "We continue to highlight the attractive long-term structural growth opportunity (organic growth of 6-8% vs 5% historically) and its proven ability to manage through inflationary periods and continued strong execution."

Johnson said he expects earnings per share estimates for the current year to be upgraded by a mid-single-digit percentage following Tuesday's update, in which Compass pointed to operating profit growth "towards 11%", compared with earlier guidance of a high single-digit improvement.

Organic growth in the third quarter came in at 8.6%, in line with the 8.5% growth recorded in the first half. Shore Capital had expected a "modest slowdown".

The stock was up 6.2% at 2,681p by 1108 BST.

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Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

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