The Heidelberg Materials share has not been able to gain ground so far despite very good business figures and is trading at just under 88 euros in morning trading (as of February 22, 2024, around 9:30 a.m.). The company not only presented strong numbers for 2023, but also impressed with its outlook for the current year.

2024 is expected to remain challenging for the industry, but price increases and cost control were also helpful in the difficult last year. Another exciting development for investors: The Heidelberg-based building materials company has announced a new share buyback program and analysts are mostly optimistic. The prospects for the Heidelberg Materials share could be worse.

Heidelberg Materials with growth in a difficult environment In 2023, the building materials company sold less than in the previous year. Nevertheless, Heidelberg Materials was able to increase its organic revenue by 4 percent to 21.2 billion euros compared to 2022, thanks to price adjustments. Thanks to cost savings and lower energy costs, the operating result for the current business operation increased by 29.5 percent to 3.0 billion euros.

Adjusted profit rose by almost 8 percent to just over 1.9 billion euros and the operating EBITDA margin increased from 17.7 percent in the previous year to 20.1 percent in 2023. For the current year 2024, Heidelberg Materials is also optimistic and predicts another revenue growth as well as an operating result between 3.0 and 3.3 billion euros.

The company had already announced a new share buyback program. By the end of 2026, shares with a total volume of 1.2 billion euros will be repurchased in 3 tranches. The program is set to start in Q2 after the Annual General Meeting.

Heidelberg Materials share: Analysts are optimistic The year 2023 was not easy for the building materials company from Heidelberg due to declining sales volumes. Nevertheless, the DAX-listed company managed to increase its revenue and, above all, its profit. Even in 2024, not all problems in the industry are expected to disappear, but there is still potential for revenue and profit growth.

This shows how solid the company’s positioning is and that there are medium and long-term opportunities for investors. The majority of analysts see it similarly – today JPMorgan confirmed its positive rating. And just two days ago, Barclays upgraded the Heidelberg Materials share from „underweight“ to „overweight“ and significantly increased its price target from 70 to 106 euros in its analysis.

Source: https://aktienscreener.com/