Broker snap: Government's timing of Lloyds sale is 'impeccable', says Investec

The sale of a six per cent stake in Lloyds by the government was a 'very well-timed' disposal, according to broker Investec.UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the unit of the Treasury which is handling the sale of Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, said it received £3.21bn for disposing 6% of the lender to institutional investors, reducing its stake from 38.7% to 32.7%.Investec analyst Ian Gordon said: "UKFI has, quite sensibly in our view, chosen to take advantage of recent strength in the Lloyds share price by disposing of an initial 4.3bn shares at 75.0p - a 3.1% discount to last night's close."He said: "We regard the government's timing as impeccable, and it appears credible to suggest that it could yet be out in full by the election."Nevertheless, the broker retained its 'sell' rating and 65p target price for the stock, highlighting that it trades at 1.4 times 2013 estimate tangible net asset value - "close to a near-five-year high".The stock was down 2.41% at 75.5p by 11:14 on Tuesday.BC