FTSE 250 movers: Paragon Group jumps, AMEC sinks

(ShareCast News) - Paragon Group led to the upside on the back of a positive endorsement from broker Jefferies.Analyst Phil Dobbin said: "Paragon is evolving from a securitized non-bank lender to a more diversified retail funded banking group. We believe that the company has the ability to gain market share in complex underwriting and can benefit from re-gearing its balance sheet. Increased activity since the year-end and increasing clarity of guidance pushes our forecasts up, particularly from 2018 onwards."Jefferies raised its target price from 400p to 490p, while reiterating its recommendation to 'buy'.UBS also weighed in with its own upwards target price revision, from 350p to 425p.UDG Healthcare was alsho higher a day after the company posted its preliminary full-year results, which prompted analysts at N+1 Singer to reiterate their 'buy' on the shares, telling clients that "further deals should be more accretive, and this is the crux of the investment case. We stay at Buy."The broker also noted the company´s still positive outlook.Countrywide shares were close behind, bouncing back following a steep share price drop over the previous three sessions.Shares in AMEC Foster Wheeler were near the bottom of the leaderboard after analysts at UBS slashed their target on the stock from 640p to 440p, telling clients they believed there was "no clear investment case" until the company unveils its strategy in March 2017.For the investment case "to work" AMEC should be positioned as a turnaround story, analyst Amy Wong said.The fact that only 50% to 55% of its revenues were accounted for by Oil&Gas end market exposure meant the outfit was less geared to Oil&Gas upstream investment, she added. FTSE 250 - RisersUDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 648.50p 5.53%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 363.40p 5.17%Countrywide (CWD) 178.00p 5.01%Allied Minds (ALM) 369.40p 4.42%Laird (LRD) 151.00p 3.64%Ocado Group (OCDO) 274.80p 3.30%Ibstock (IBST) 185.10p 3.01%RPC Group (RPC) 1,016.00p 2.99%IP Group (IPO) 149.20p 2.93%Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 355.50p 2.48%FTSE 250 - FallersGrafton Group Units (GFTU) 556.00p -2.97%Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 409.70p -2.73%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 157.90p -2.71%Hunting (HTG) 520.50p -2.62%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 782.00p -2.31%Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 240.60p -2.23%Tullow Oil (TLW) 272.70p -2.01%Evraz (EVR) 255.00p -1.92%Aggreko (AGK) 793.50p -1.67%Serco Group (SRP) 135.60p -1.60%