Cranswick Upgraded to Buy as Berenberg Notes 'Widening Moat' After Suffolk Site Visit

06:47 AM EDT, 09/22/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Berenberg upgraded Cranswick (CWK.L) to buy from hold, saying its recent site visit to the food producer's poultry facility in Suffolk, UK, supports its view of a "widening moat" around the business. "Cranswick's poultry processing facility in Eye, Suffolk, is the most advanced in Europe, producing 1.6m birds per week, with over GBP120m invested in the site to date. The facility is running at c95% capacity, with additional capex increasing capacity to 2m birds per week. This expansion is on track for completion by April 2027 and expected to ramp up fully over 12 to 18 months. The site showcased Cranswick's leading position in the UK food manufacturing market, with competitors unable to match the investment and quality of the Eye facility," analysts said in a Tuesday note. The research firm also noted that applying consensus capex estimates to Cranswick's historical pre-tax Return on Capital Employed, or ROCE, and assuming 36 months for that spending to reach 18.5% ROCE implies cumulative EBIT of 98 million pounds sterling, against consensus EBIT forecasts of 64 million pounds for 2026 to 2030 and Berenberg's own estimate of 56 million pounds. "With product leadership and investment building a stronger moat around the business, on top of the increasing demand for pork and poultry, the shares now trade at a more attractive valuation of 15.7x FY27E EPS," Berenberg added. The stock's price target was increased to 60.80 pounds from 57.70 pounds.