Noble Group

Noble Group: According to a report from Bloomberg, sovereign-wealth fund China Investment Corp (CIC)- Noble's second largest shareholder with 13.8% stake, is seeking to sell at least 165m shares, part of its 13.8% stake in the company at between $1.32-1.35. Post-sale, CIC expects to see its stakeholding fall to about 10%. This may cause a near-term overhang for the counter, which has seen a pick-up in interest from the street just two weeks ago. Brokers incorporated the disposal gain from Noble's 51%-stake sale of its loss-making agri-business to China's agri-food giant, COFCO, and subsequently raised their target prices for the group. Management earlier gave guidance that the sale will be completed by end Sep-early Oct. At the current price, Noble is valued at 13.8x forward earnings, compared to Olam's 14.4x and Wilmar's 13.5x. Bloomberg consensus has 11 Buys, 3 Holds and 2 Sells on Noble Group, with 12-month TP of $1.51.