AlphaValue/Baader Europe Upgrades Edenred to Add as Regulatory Headwinds Ease; Price Target Up

06:59 AM EDT, 09/14/2026 (MT Newswires) -- AlphaValue/Baader Europe upgraded Edenred (EDEN.PA) to add from reduce, as the research firm views recent regulatory hurdles, including meal voucher merchant fee caps in Italy and Brazil, as fading. In a Monday note, analysts also raised their price target for the French digital services and payments company to 35.8 euros from 31.4 euros, citing an updated framework that anticipates a recovery in revenue and free cash flow starting in full-year 2027. On the earnings side, AlphaValue/Baader Europe updated its EPS estimates, raising its 2026 forecast by 4.31% to 1.91 euros and lowering its 2027 assumption by 1.20% to 2.11 euros. The revisions account for Edenred's commitment to growing its annual dividend. "On purely peer metrics, we have removed Nexi and Worldline from the peer group as they are payment companies whose offerings differ significantly from Edenred, which is moreover, gradually withdrawing from the BaaS B2C segment. Remember P/E and P/Book carry limited signal here: net income comparability is distorted by peers' divergent debt structures and M&A-amortisation profiles, and Edenred's negative book equity renders P/Book structurally void," analysts said.