Top Consumer Finance Stocks to Watch in 2026, According to Jefferies

Investing.com -- Moody’s Ratings has changed SNAM S.p.A.’s outlook to positive from stable while affirming its Baa2 long-term issuer rating, the rating agency announced Friday.

The rating action follows SNAM’s November 14 announcement that it terminated an agreement to acquire 24.99% of Viergas Gas Holding’s capital from null Investments. VGH indirectly owns Germany’s largest gas transmission network operator, Open Grid Europe GmbH.

Moody’s positive outlook reflects its expectation that SNAM’s credit metrics could support a higher rating, given reduced minimum credit metric requirements for a Baa1 rating. The company recently announced that its 2025 EBITDA is expected to be €0.1 billion higher and net debt €0.4 billion lower than previously anticipated.

For a Baa1 rating, Moody’s now expects SNAM to maintain Funds from Operations (FFO)/net debt of at least 12% on a sustained basis, down from previous guidance. This adjustment reflects the company’s reduced exposure to new hydrogen infrastructure outside Italy following the terminated agreement.

Moody’s anticipates SNAM will show FFO/net debt around 12% from 2025 to 2027, well above the 9% minimum required for its current Baa2 rating. The company will benefit from avoiding a €940 million payment previously expected in 2026 for the VGH stake acquisition.

SNAM plans to present its updated strategic plan in Q1 2026. Moody’s does not expect major strategic changes, though the company is reviewing its associates portfolio.

The Baa2 rating continues to be supported by SNAM’s strategic position in Italy’s gas transmission, storage and regasification, its role in the country’s energy plan, and its mostly regulated activities with predictable regulation.

Income from associates remains material to SNAM’s financial performance, with steady growth expected to continue through 2029, reaching approximately €350-370 million from €326 million in 2024.

SNAM is considered a Government-related Issuer due to its 31.35% ownership by CDP RETI S.p.A. Moody’s also affirmed the Ba1 rating on SNAM’s perpetual subordinate debt.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Investing.com -- Moody’s Ratings has upgraded SK hynix Inc.’s issuer and senior unsecured ratings to Baa1 from Baa2 and changed the outlook to stable from positive, the agency announced Friday.

The upgrade reflects SK hynix’s strengthened market position in the memory chip industry, particularly its leadership in the high-bandwidth memory segment, along with its significantly improved balance sheet.

"SK hynix will maintain its strong position in the HBM segment over the next 12-18 months, despite increasing competition from Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Micron Technology, Inc.," said Soe Jung Baek, a Moody’s Ratings Analyst.

The company is expected to benefit from favorable industry conditions as hyperscale cloud providers increase spending on AI infrastructure, driving strong demand for advanced memory products like HBM and server memory.

Moody’s projects SK hynix’s adjusted EBITDA to increase to over KRW80 trillion in 2026, up from approximately KRW53 trillion for the 12 months ending September 30, 2025.

The company reported a net cash position of around KRW1 trillion at the end of September 2025, a substantial improvement from its net debt of approximately KRW15 trillion at the end of 2024 on an adjusted basis.

SK hynix’s adjusted debt/EBITDA ratio is expected to decline to 0.2x-0.3x over the next 12-18 months from 0.5x for the 12 months to September 2025, while its adjusted debt/capitalization will improve to 9%-13% from 21% during the same period.

The stable outlook reflects Moody’s view that SK hynix’s improved balance sheet strength provides adequate protection against a future industry downturn.

The ratings also take into account risks associated with the memory industry’s cyclicality and the need for substantial investments and technological innovation to remain competitive.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Investing.com -- Moody’s Ratings has downgraded Perrigo Company plc’s Corporate Family Rating to Ba3 from Ba2, while changing the outlook to stable from negative.

The downgrade reflects Perrigo’s high leverage and slower-than-expected deleveraging due to earnings pressure and deteriorating competitive conditions in the infant nutrition segment. The company recently revised its fiscal 2025 guidance downward after weaker-than-expected earnings results.

Moody’s expects Perrigo’s debt-to-EBITDA ratio will remain above 5.0x over the next 12-18 months, despite the company’s focus on reducing leverage. The current ratio stands at 5.6x for the 12 months ending September 2025.

The rating agency also downgraded Perrigo’s Probability of Default Rating to Ba3-PD from Ba2-PD and lowered the senior unsecured notes to B1 from Ba3. Senior unsecured notes issued by Perrigo Finance Unlimited Company were similarly downgraded to B1 from Ba3.

Moody’s affirmed the Ba1 ratings of the senior secured revolving credit facility and term loans issued by Perrigo Investments LLC, while maintaining Perrigo’s SGL-2 speculative grade liquidity rating.

The stable outlook reflects Moody’s expectation that credit metrics and profitability will steadily improve over the longer term. The company maintains a strong market position in US store brand OTC pharmaceuticals and has a solid portfolio of branded international products.

Perrigo recently announced strategic reviews of its infant formula and oral care businesses, along with the planned divestiture of its dermacosmetics unit to KKR, expected to close in Q1 2026. Moody’s anticipates proceeds from these actions will be used to reduce debt and support reinvestment into more profitable products.

The company’s liquidity remains good, supported by a $432 million cash balance, expected positive free cash flow exceeding $70 million in 2025, and a $1 billion undrawn revolving credit facility expiring in April 2027.

Perrigo is guiding to net debt-to-EBITDA leverage of approximately 3.8x at the end of 2025, down from 3.9x as of September 2025 but above the company’s prior expectations of 3.5x and its long-term target of 3.0x.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Investing.com -- Jefferies upgraded Choice Hotels to Neutral from Underweight, saying the stock’s sharp valuation reset now better reflects its slower growth profile compared with larger hotel chains.


The firm said CHH’s risk and reward look more balanced after a 39% slide this year has taken its multiple to the lowest level in more than a decade.

Jefferies said CHH trades at about 8.5x its FY26 enterprise value to EBITDA estimate, a level it sees as appropriate given expectations for roughly 1% net unit growth and a 0.5% rise in RevPAR that lag peers.


The stock now trades at a discount of about 1.5x to Wyndham, which it said is reasonable because WH is growing units at more than 4%. It added that CHH’s current valuation is almost 40% below its long term average and sits below asset heavy Host Hotels for the first time in recent memory.

The broker said the muted outlook for RevPAR at lower tier properties and slow unit growth explain the de rating. Both CHH and WH share several traits, including asset light franchises, similar leisure oriented customer bases, comparable leverage of about 3x and free cash flow conversion near 60%.

Jefferies said it is not ready to call for outperformance in 2026 but noted that expectations for next year are already low.

It said discretionary travel could improve if policy shifts under the Trump administration support consumer spending ahead of midterm elections. Large events such as the World Cup and America’s 250th anniversary as well as easy comparisons in 2025 could also help.

The firm cut its year end 2026 price target to $95 from $102, based on an 8.5x multiple of its 2027 EBITDA estimate. Estimates remain unchanged, including expectations for a 5.5% drop in fourth quarter 2025 RevPAR and FY26 EBITDA of $639 million.

Jefferies said CHH trades at 8.6x its 2026 valuation and 7.9x for 2027. On earnings, the stock trades at 12.1x its 2026 estimate of $7.20 a share and 11.7x its 2027 estimate of $7.41, compared with historical averages near 14x EV/EBITDA and 20x earnings.

Investing.com – U.K. stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Tobacco, Fixed Line Telecommunications and Industrial Metals & Mining sectors led shares lower.

At the close in London, the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 lost 0.64%.

The best performers of the session on the Investing.com United Kingdom 100 were Flutter Entertainment PLC (LON:FLTRF), which rose 2.77% or 450.00 points to trade at 16,695.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Ashtead Group PLC (LON:AHT) added 2.56% or 128.00 points to end at 5,138.00 and InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (LON:IHG) was up 2.14% or 215.30 points to 10,265.30 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were British American Tobacco PLC (LON:BATS), which fell 3.33% or 146.00 points to trade at 4,238.00 at the close. Anglo American PLC (LON:AAL) declined 2.76% or 80.00 points to end at 2,817.00 and Weir Group PLC (LON:WEIR) was down 2.72% or 80.00 points to 2,856.00.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the London Stock Exchange by 947 to 770 and 589 ended unchanged.

Gold Futures for February delivery was down 0.21% or 8.90 to $4,304.10 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in January rose 0.16% or 0.09 to hit $57.69 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract rose 0.07% or 0.04 to trade at $61.32 a barrel.

GBP/USD was unchanged 0.28% to 1.34, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.24% to 0.88.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 98.10.

Investing.com – Italy stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Financials, Industrials and Chemicals sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Milan, the Investing.com Italy 40 declined 0.44%.

The best performers of the session on the Investing.com Italy 40 were Amplifon (BIT:AMPF), which rose 2.04% or 0.28 points to trade at 13.98 at the close. Meanwhile, STMicroelectronics (BIT:STMMI) added 1.66% or 0.37 points to end at 22.36 and Davide Campari Milano SpA (BIT:CPRI) was up 1.63% or 0.10 points to 5.98 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Banco Bpm SpA (BIT:BAMI), which fell 1.67% or 0.21 points to trade at 12.38 at the close. Banca Mediolanum SpA (BIT:BMED) declined 1.66% or 0.31 points to end at 18.42 and Prysmian SpA (BIT:PRY) was down 1.53% or 1.28 points to 82.64.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Milan Stock Exchange by 360 to 308 and 54 ended unchanged.

Crude oil for January delivery was up 0.16% or 0.09 to $57.69 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in February rose 0.03% or 0.02 to hit $61.30 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract fell 0.19% or 8.10 to trade at $4,304.90 a troy ounce.

EUR/USD was unchanged 0.05% to 1.17, while EUR/GBP unchanged 0.23% to 0.88.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 98.10.