BlackRock discloses St James’s Place short position

BlackRock Investment Management disclosed a short position in St James’s Place (SJP) a day after results from the wealth manager.

In an announcement posted on the London Stock Exchange late yesterday afternoon, it was revealed BlackRock had a 0.25% short on SJP.

The news came a day after SJP, headed by chief David Bellamy (pictured), unveiled forecast-beating third quarter numbers, showing sales over the period were up 8% at £165.6 million, well ahead of Investec’s estimate of £156.4 million.

Investec analyst Kevin Ryan repeated his buy rating and 380p price target on the stock in a note in response the numbers.

'We continue to recommend the stock as a buy and retain our sum of the parts target price,' Ryan said. 'St James's Place is a rarity in the UK life industry in that it is a growth company.'

Ryan added: 'It is growing because it is mining the mass affluent niche that is largely ignored by competitors and, uniquely, it has an internal sales force. The latter is RDR compliant and the fall-out from RDR should make it easier to recruit high quality sales people.'

Since the results were posted on 31 October shares in SJP have risen from 390p to a little more than 396p at 11am on 2 November, a penny below their 12-month high.