CWK - Cushman & Wakefield lowered to Neutral at UBS as CRE fundamentals wane

2023-04-17 12:27:15 ET

• Cushman & Wakerfield ( NYSE: CWK ) stock dipped 1.2% in Monday afternoon trading as UBS downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy as fundamentals in the commercial real estate market continue to wane.
• "The operating environment has clearly become even more negative with lending conditions worsening and the macroeconomic outlook more cloudy," the firm wrote in a note.
• And while investors appear to have already priced in a tough backdrop, with shares off 26.5% year-to-date, "we cannot ignore our outsized negative estimate revision (-25% for FY23 vs. 9% for ( CBRE ) and 15% for ( JLL )), given the company's lower margins and higher leverage relative to peers," it added.
• The Neutral rating aligns with the Quant system rating of Hold and agrees with the average Wall Street analyst rating of Buy.
• Last Monday, Goldman also cut CWK to Neutral on slowing topline growth, elevated leverage and interest expenses, and low free cash flow conversion.

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