New analyst price targets for JD Sports and Prudential
After recent announcements from the FTSE 100 duo, analysts have reassessed prospects. City writer Graeme Evans reveals the outcome.
28th August 2025 13:53
by Graeme Evans from interactive investor
A £1 landmark for JD Sports Fashion (LSE:JD.) shares and a new price target pointing to a 28% upside for Prudential (LSE:PRU) today continued the largely positive reception to updates 24 hours earlier.
JD Sports reached 100p for the first time since early January, boosted by the resilience of North American trading and its plan to return another £100 million of surplus cash.
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The FTSE 100 stock, which is up from 63p in April and 72p in June, got a fresh lift today when Berenberg analysts retained their Buy recommendation with an improved target of 155p.
They said a valuation of 8.5 times 2025-26’s forecast earnings failed to reflect the potential for “moderate growth, margin recovery and strong free cash flow”.
With the company in a M&A digestion phase after the acquisitions of Hibbett and Courir, the bank said that organic sales growth including space expansion is likely to be the primary driver of performance along with some potential margin improvement.
It points out that 80% of sales are accounted for by physical stores, meaning that JD provides hundreds of external sporting goods brands with an important route to market.
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Comparisons with 2024’s packed European sporting calendar meant like-for-like sales fell 3% in the second quarter to 2 August, with North America’s 2.3% decline much better than the 5.3% forecast thanks to the benefit of recent footwear launches.
Bank of America believes the quarter should represent the worst three months of the year for JD as it begins to cycle the beginning of the deterioration in Nike Inc Class B (NYSE:NKE)’s performance last year. The US sportswear giant is believed to account for nearly 40% of JD’s sales.
The bank said reduced downside risk to estimates and a second £100 million shares buyback should support the ongoing re-rating of the stock. It has a price target of 112p.
UBS is more cautious, highlighting that the second half of the financial year is more important than the first for profitability. It warns that any consumer slowdown, particularly as price increases are introduced, could represent a significant overhang.
The bank is more upbeat on Prudential shares after its insurance team unveiled a new price target of 1,230p, which compares with today’s 964.6p following a year-to-date rally of 50%.
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The upgrade from 1,200p was in response to interim results and a new capital return policy, which UBS expects will result in more than 20% of Pru's market cap being returned to shareholders over the next three years (2026-28).
The bank said: “This is significantly attractive for a stock that is also growing earnings at a 10% compound annual growth rate over the same period. Pru remains our top life insurance pick within our coverage.”
Management announced $1.1 billion (£1.5 billion) of regular share buybacks to be paid over 2026-27, alongside a dividend growth rate of more than 10%.
UBS forecasts a figure of 13% or more over the medium term, while its projections for a doubling of capital generation and free cash flow point to share buybacks of $500 million, $600 million and $900 million for 2026, 2027 and 2028 respectively.
Additionally, it expects three tranches of $1 billion special share buybacks over the next three years.
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Bank of America sees 15% annual dividend growth between 2024 and 2027, highlighting more upside than downside risk to its forecast. The bank regards the Pru as its sector top pick, with a price target of 1,150p.
The bank said following yesterday’s interim results: “Pru is demonstrating double-digit growth on all key metrics, which should sustain for the foreseeable future. This was accompanied by a capital management update which exceeded our expectations.”
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