Vodafone's share price may have reacted well to the company's third-quarter results on Thursday, but Nomura has highlighted concerns with the company's dividend on the back of accounting changes to be implemented next year which could cut free cash flow.

"Vodafone's board will reconsider uses of cash flow following the expiry of its three-year dividend commitment, and we believe it may baulk at paying a dividend not covered by controlled cash flow. We reiterate our concerns for income investors and lack of certainty over the forward dividend is an overhang for the shares, in our view."

The broker has retained its 'neutral' rating and 195p target price for the stock.

Investec has highlighted the strong end to the year seen at Smith & Nephew but has been forced to downgrade its rating for the stock with the expected total return (ETR) now under 10 per cent.

The broker has raised its target price from 730p to 755p, but with the ETR now at 9.5%, its recommendation for the shares has been lowered from 'buy' to 'add'. [An ETR of over 10% implies a 'buy' rating]

Shares in fashion retailer SuperGroup raced ahead of Thursday morning after the release of its third-quarter trading statement, helped by Panmure Gordon calling it an good entry point for potential investors.

The broker said that the stock's PEG - measured as price/earnings per share (EPS)/growth in EPS, which takes into account future growth - is just 0.6 which is attractive versus peers (ranging from 1.2x to 4.7x).

BC

Related share prices
Vodafone Group (VOD) share price
Smith & Nephew (SN.) share price
Supergroup (SGP) share price