(new: share price, more details and background)

FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - A buy recommendation from Deutsche Bank fueled the recovery of Symrise shares on Tuesday. In early Xetra trading, the share price rose by up to 3.7 percent. As a result, the share price rose to its highest level in six weeks, reaching 110 euros. Although the increase weakened somewhat to 2.1 percent over the course of the day, this was still enough to keep the share at the top of the DAX.

Analyst Virginie Boucher-Ferte from Deutsche Bank upgraded the shares of the flavor and fragrance manufacturer from "hold" to "buy" almost a year after a downgrade. The expert raised the price target from 105 to 120 euros, which means that she sees more than ten percent upside potential again. The Symrise share had last been above EUR 120 at the beginning of 2022, shortly after the record high of EUR 132.65, which dates back to November 2021.

In her study, the expert drew a comparison with competitor Givaudan. This shows that Symrise has lost comparatively significant value in recent months. The discount to the Swiss competitor has become very clear. She expects a positive turnaround in Symrise's earnings momentum and sees potential for rising consensus estimates for the first time in 18 months.

There are still headwinds for the fragrance and flavor manufacturer with margin pressure and wage increases, Boucher-Ferte explained in her study. However, things were moving in the right direction with cost cuts unfolding in the first half of the year. As a result of slightly higher sales and margin expectations, she raised her earnings per share estimates for the years 2024 to 2026 by up to 6 percent.

She also mentioned the change of CEO at Symrise, which is likely to increase the focus on profitable growth. In her opinion, this should help to realize untapped potential. On October 24, there will be an updated strategy, which "should be more of an evolution than a revolution". She also expects a solid report on the second quarter on August 1 and thus also a decent half-year result.

Symrise's share price gain on Tuesday also set it apart from the Givaudan shares, which rose by 0.9 percent in Zurich. The catch-up potential becomes clear when looking back at the past few months: Givaudan shares have gained 23 percent so far in 2024 and Symrise only a good nine percent. Givaudan shares are currently at their highest level since January 2022, while Symrise is still trading below its interim high from March./tih/bek/jha/