Analysts’ recommendations

In 2017, the Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) analyst monitored the LLB share and regularly published studies and assessments on the LLB Group. ZKB changed its rating from “market weight” to “overweight” during the reporting year. The analyst raised his rating on 18 September 2017 after a fall in the LLB share price. The LLB share was upgraded to “overweight” in particular on the back of a sector study carried out by ZKB and published in September on the state of fintech in the Swiss banking sector. The ZKB analyst rated LLB as “well-positioned” in terms of its fintech offering and orientation. The acquisition of Semper Constantia Privatbank in Austria, which was announced shortly before Christmas, was viewed favourably by the ZKB analyst. On 3 January 2018, he reconfirmed the “overweight” rating with a fair share price of CHF 60.00. The analyst sees opportunities for returns, in particular, in the prospect of rising interest rates, the potential synergies from acquisitive growth and the cheaply priced share.

Since the middle of 2016, Research Partners AG with analyst Rainer Skierka has also provided coverage of the LLB Group. In January 2017, after a revision of the estimates for 2017 – 2018, Rainer Skierka confirmed the buy recommendation and set the twelve-month price target to CHF 53.50. On 6 April 2017, Research Partners AG reaffirmed the buy recommendation based on revised earnings estimates and raised the twelve-month price target to CHF 56.20. The equity research from Research Partners AG is not freely available and must be purchased.

In 2017, the private bank Mirabaud, and the analyst responsible Andreas Brun, also took up coverage of LLB. He recommended a “buy” for the LLB share. In March, after publication of the annual results for 2016, he raised the price target from CHF 46.60 to CHF 50.00, arguing that LLB had “not shot all its powder”. After the planned acquisition of Semper Constantia Privatbank was announced, the analyst lifted the price target to CHF 53.00.