Lazard Asset Management has exceeded 5% of Hera's capital. With the purchases made on January 16, the US fund which manages over 115 billion dollars in assets (Refinitiv data) consolidated its position in the group reaching a stake of 5,043%. Consob communicates it in the update note published on 22 January.
“The presence of the fund in Hera's share capital dates back to the IPO which took place in 2003”, informs the Bolognese multiutility which underlines how “in this period of time, the Hera share has achieved a Total Shareholders' Return (TSR, which considers both the appreciation of the valuation of the stock that the sum of the dividends distributed) of +319%, also following entry into the FTSE Mib which recorded a +50% of the TSR in 2019 alone”.
The news comes a few days after the presentation of the new industrial plan to 2023 which shows economic and financial targets in improvement compared to the previous one, also thanks to the agreement signed with Ascopiave which, according to the company, will contribute to the growth of the group's results starting as early as 2020. The plan provides for investments for the next 5 years for 2,9, XNUMX billion euros and a constantly growing dividend up to 12 cents per share (+20%).
At the same time, Hera published i preliminary data for 2019, closed with a gross operating margin up by 50 million, a result higher than analysts' expectations.
Precisely by virtue of the results achieved and the estimates for the coming years, analysts have raised the valuation on the company, bringing the new target price to 4,15 euros per share.
In Piazza Affari, the Hera share gained 2% to 4,062 euros, achieving one of the best performances of the Ftse Mib. Furthermore, during the session thehe shares reached a new all-time high, reaching 4,094 euros.
