Persimmon downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC

HSBC analyst John Fraser-Andrews downgraded Persimmon to Hold from Buy with a price target of 1,190 GBp, down from 1,550 GBp. The analyst now expects a “double dip” in housing demand from the leg-up in mortgage rates and fall in existing U.K. excluding-central London house prices. The firm also expects sustained build cost inflation and less elasticity in the land market pricing response to further reduce sector operating margins and limit their recovery through 2027. It downgraded several U.K. housebuilders to reflect a “steeper downturn and a more tepid recovery.”