Compass Group Kept at Buy as AlphaValue/Baader Europe Highlights 'Best-in-class' Profile; Price Target Down

07:01 AM EDT, 08/21/2026 (MT Newswires) -- AlphaValue/Baader Europe reiterated its buy recommendation on Compass Group (CPG.L), noting that its view of the catering and food services company's "best-in-class" profile remains intact despite trimming the stock's price target. "Compass remains a best-in-class operator in contract catering, and the cut reflects a normalisation of its ratings rather than any downgrade of that view," the research firm said Thursday. "We have cut the P/E premium to 20% (down from 50%), deliberately below the [greater than] 25x at its all-time high when the market was capitalising post-Covid and inflation-led growth as if it were structural. We have gone the same way on EV/EBITDA (30% premium down from 50%), but the group still warrants a premium, and the execution record is why: the group has showed consistency no peer can boast of." Against this backdrop, the price target for the London-listed group was changed to $40.1 from $43.2.