New Forecasts: Here's What Analysts Think The Future Holds For Intermediate Capital Group plc (LON:ICP)

Intermediate Capital Group plc (LON:ICP) shareholders will have a reason to smile today, with the analysts making substantial upgrades to this year's statutory forecasts. The analysts have sharply increased their revenue numbers, with a view that Intermediate Capital Group will make substantially more sales than they'd previously expected. The market may be pricing in some blue sky too, with the share price gaining 12% to UK£17.29 in the last 7 days. It will be interesting to see if today's upgrade is enough to propel the stock even higher.

After this upgrade, Intermediate Capital Group's nine analysts are now forecasting revenues of UK£603m in 2021. This would be a huge 48% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are presumed to soar 40% to UK£0.76. Previously, the analysts had been modelling revenues of UK£492m and earnings per share (EPS) of UK£0.63 in 2021. So we can see there's been a pretty clear increase in analyst sentiment in recent times, with both revenues and earnings per share receiving a decent lift in the latest estimates.

Check out our latest analysis for Intermediate Capital Group

It will come as no surprise to learn that the analysts have increased their price target for Intermediate Capital Group 9.3% to UK£17.23 on the back of these upgrades. That's not the only conclusion we can draw from this data however, as some investors also like to consider the spread in estimates when evaluating analyst price targets. There are some variant perceptions on Intermediate Capital Group, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at UK£20.00 and the most bearish at UK£12.60 per share. Analysts definitely have varying views on the business, but the spread of estimates is not wide enough in our view to suggest that extreme outcomes could await Intermediate Capital Group shareholders.

Another way we can view these estimates is in the context of the bigger picture, such as how the forecasts stack up against past performance, and whether forecasts are more or less bullish relative to other companies in the industry. The analysts are definitely expecting Intermediate Capital Group's growth to accelerate, with the forecast 48% growth ranking favourably alongside historical growth of 1.7% per annum over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in a similar industry are forecast to grow their revenue at 6.3% per year. It seems obvious that, while the growth outlook is brighter than the recent past, the analysts also expect Intermediate Capital Group to grow faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The biggest takeaway for us from these new estimates is that analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates, with improved earnings power expected for this year. Fortunately, analysts also upgraded their revenue estimates, and our data indicates sales are expected to perform better than the wider market. There was also a nice increase in the price target, with analysts apparently feeling that the intrinsic value of the business is improving. Seeing the dramatic upgrade to this year's forecasts, it might be time to take another look at Intermediate Capital Group.

Still, the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. We have estimates - from multiple Intermediate Capital Group analysts - going out to 2023, and you can see them free on our platform here.

You can also see our analysis of Intermediate Capital Group's Board and CEO remuneration and experience, and whether company insiders have been buying stock.

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