Bullish: Analysts Just Made A Huge Upgrade To Their Hunter Group ASA (OB:HUNT) Forecasts

Celebrations may be in order for Hunter Group ASA (OB:HUNT) shareholders, with the analysts delivering a significant upgrade to their statutory estimates for the company. The consensus statutory numbers for both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) increased, with their view clearly much more bullish on the company's business prospects. Investor sentiment seems to be improving too, with the share price up 4.1% to kr2.92 over the past 7 days. It will be interesting to see if this latest upgrade is enough to kickstart further buying interest in the stock.

After this upgrade, Hunter Group's four analysts are now forecasting revenues of US$46m in 2022. This would be a huge 22% improvement in sales compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to bounce 141% to US$0.016. Prior to this update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$41m and earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.0055 in 2022. There has definitely been an improvement in perception recently, with the analysts substantially increasing both their earnings and revenue estimates.

See our latest analysis for Hunter Group

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. We would highlight that Hunter Group's revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 22% annualised growth rate until the end of 2022 being well below the historical 69% p.a. growth over the last five years. Compare this with other companies in the same industry, which are forecast to see a revenue decline of 1.9% annually. Factoring in the forecast slowdown in growth, it's pretty clear that Hunter Group is still expected to grow faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away from this upgrade is that analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates for this year, expecting improving business conditions. Fortunately, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, and our data indicates sales are expected to perform better than the wider market. The clear improvement in sentiment should be enough to get most shareholders feeling more optimistic about Hunter Group's future.

Analysts are clearly in love with Hunter Group at the moment, but before diving in - you should be aware that we've identified some warning flags with the business, such as its declining profit margins. For more information, you can click through to our platform to learn more about this and the 3 other warning signs we've identified .

Another way to search for interesting companies that could be reaching an inflection point is to track whether management are buying or selling, with our free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.