FTSE 250 shares round-up: Dunelm, Wickes, Renishaw

A Dunelm store in London. Photo: Peter Dazeley/Getty Images.

Mid-cap investors were today presented with cheaper Renishaw (LSE:RSW) and Dunelm Group (LSE:DNLM) shares after the pair’s latest robust trading updates were given a downbeat response in the FTSE 250 index.

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City firm UBS said the precision engineering firm had paid the price for posting “optically underwhelming” top-line growth, which masked continued margin improvement.

It added: “We believe the improving semiconductor market should provide meaningful topline support in the coming quarters.”

Renishaw lost 165p to 3,550p following today’s first-quarter update, having surged by 65% since April’s trade war volatility.

Peel Hunt has a price target of 4,475p after leaving its forecasts untouched. These assume 5% organic revenue growth in the current financial year, with 5.3% and 5.1% in the following years.

It said: “We are confident there is a further re-rating to come, as the company delivers its target of high single-digit revenue growth through the cycle with a 20% margin. The building blocks are in place.”

Revenues of £170.8 million for the quarter were up 2.8% organically and down 1.8% on a reported basis, against a strong comparator of 4% last year.

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The group’s products give high accuracy and precision, gathering data to provide customers and end users with traceability and confidence in what they're making.

Most of the Gloucestershire-based company’s research and development work takes place in the UK, with its largest manufacturing sites in the UK, Ireland and India.

Despite the global uncertainty, the group said the structural drivers that underpin its markets continued to present growth opportunities across its businesses. It added: “At this stage we are expecting to achieve further steady revenue growth in the year ahead.”

Dunelm shares fell 12p to 1,136p, leaving them 8% lower than the 2025 peak achieved on the eve of annual results in early September.

Today’s reverse came even though Dunelm overcame the impact of hot summer weather on demand to report 6.2% total sales growth in the quarter to 27 September. Growth was driven by both higher volumes and increased average item values.

New chief executive Clo Moriarty said: “It’s a great time to be joining Dunelm. The business has delivered another strong performance in the first quarter, which reflects both the appeal of our customer offer and the strength of our business model.”

A 28p a share dividend is due on 25 November, which together with April’s unchanged special dividend of 35p lifted the total for the 2025 financial year by 1p to 79.5p.

Peel Hunt, which has a price target of 1,375p, said: “The strong start to the year remains encouraging, particularly when supported by rising gross margin.”

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With peak trading and the Budget ahead, the bank left its forecasts unchanged but said the strong trading momentum and weakening comparatives gave it confidence.

It pointed out shares now trade on 14 times forecast earnings with a 7% yield. UBS has a price target of 1,360p.

Among other FTSE 250 companies reporting today, Wickes Group (LSE:WIX) shares continued this year’s strong performance after the DIY chain said third-quarter revenues climbed 6.9% to £420 million.

Retail revenues rose 6.7%, driven by an increase in volumes combined with stable pricing. The project-based Design & Installation arm stepped up its improvement with growth of 7.8%.

Chief executive David Wood said: “Within Retail, our continued outperformance has seen us take further market share. In Design and Installation, the changes made to our offer are showing through in increased demand and ongoing momentum.”

The shares are up more than 40% this year to 227p but Shore Capital said the valuation continued to look attractive, with 11.6 times forecast earnings a slight discount to the sector average.

It added: “With the company continuing to deliver on its revenue growth and another reiteration of guidance, we would expect increased investor confidence on the back of today’s update as the company builds on its positive momentum.”