Three S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) stocks just earned significant upgrades from top brokers.
One is a property investment company.
The second is a global packaging and distribution company.
And the third is a large-scale coal miner.
Which promising companies are we talking about?
Read on!
(Broker data courtesy of The Australian.)
Image source: Getty Images
Three ASX 200 stocks forecast to charge higher
The first ASX 200 stock receiving a broker upgrade is property investment company GPT Group (ASX: GPT).
The GPT share price is up 3.3% in morning trade on Thursday at $5.07. That sees GPT shares up 21% over the past 12 months. GPT shares also trade on an unfranked trailing dividend yield of 4.8%.
And Morgan Stanley sees more outperformance ahead for the ASX 200 stock.
The broker raised GPT Group to an overweight rating with a price target of $5.60. That represents a potential upside of 10% from current levels, not including the upcoming dividends.
GPT reported its half-year results on 19 August. Over the six months, funds from operations (FFO) at the property investment company reached $309.1 million. Management said the business was on track to deliver its 2024 full-year guidance.
Which brings us to the second ASX 200 stock scoring a broker upgrade, global packaging and distribution company Orora Ltd (ASX: ORA).
The Orora share price is down 1.1% at the time of writing at $2.65. That sees Orora shares down 8% in 12 months. Orora shares also trade on an unfranked trailing dividend yield of 3.8%.
Jeffries forecasts a strong run ahead for this ASX 200 stock. The broker raised Orora to a buy rating with a price target of $3.00. That's 13% above current levels.
Orora reported its FY 2024 results on 14 August. Highlights included a 9.5% year on year increase in sales revenue, which came to $4.7 billion, driven by its Saverglass acquisition. Underlying net profit of $224 million was up 10.2% from FY 2023.
And the company made big news on 4 September when it announced it had entered into a binding agreement to sell Orora Packaging Solutions to Veritiv Corporation for an enterprise value of $1.78 billion (US$1.2 billion).
Rounding off the list of ASX 200 stocks that just got upgraded by brokers is coal mining giant Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC).
The Whitehaven share price is up 0.1% today at $6.15. That sees Whitehaven shares down 3% over 12 months. Whitehaven shares also trade on a 3.3% fully franked trailing dividend yield.
But JPMorgan expects a much stronger performance ahead. The broker placed an overweight rating on the ASX 200 stock with a $9.20 price target. That's almost 50% above the current share price.
Whitehaven reported its full-year results on 22 August. With coal prices in retreat over the year, revenue declined by 37% from FY 2023 to $3.8 billion.
Promisingly, however, run-of-mine (ROM) production increased by 35% year on year to 24.5 million tonnes.
