Leumi Partners raises the recommendation to Rami Levy; How much more air does the stock have?

Analyst Maayan Beck-Merom from Leumi Partners today updates the recommendation to Rami Levy after the reports are published. “Rami Levy published excellent reports throughout the year thanks to the corona, and record results in the fourth quarter. In 2020 as a whole, sales increased by 9% and sales in identical stores by 6%.

“The company ended the year with an operating windfall of 4.4% compared to 3.3% in the previous year, when in the second half of the year it managed to streamline operating expenses that were high for over a year following the move to the new Marlog,” Beck-Merom writes.

“In fact, Rami Levy ended the fourth quarter of the year with a record operating profit, 5.4% and a 10% increase in identity stores, performance probably due to a combination of prolonged closure,” good “holiday timing in the quarter compared to the same quarter last year and operational efficiencies.

“We assume that the company will be able to maintain the operational efficiency in the expense items that it managed to reduce and that it is expected to maintain an operating profit of 4%. The company’s online activity accounts for about 9% of sales, with online sales profitability slightly lower than core activity. “We will remain so as long as a significant portion of it is not transferred by robotic means. We are updating the target price to NIS 248.6 and the recommendation for ‘buy’,” Beck-Merom writes.