RESEARCH ALERT-Citigroup lowers Origin Energy to “hold”

SYDNEY, Nov 28 (Reuters) – Citigroup lowered its recommendation on Origin Energy Ltd. , to “hold” from “buy”, after the strong recovery seen in the power retailer’s share price in recent months.

Shares in Origin last traded at A$7.29, up from a close of A$6.55 on Aug. 30, when it revealed its fiscal 2006 earnings.

“Given the share’s 11 percent rise since the fiscal 2006 results, our expected total return (with dividend expectation) is now only 9.3 percent; our rating is downgraded to hold,” Citigroup said in a research note.

Citigroup gave a target price for the stock of A$7.80.

Origin said on Monday it had agreed to buy power retail assets from the Queensland state government worth over A$1.2 billion ($938 million).

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Source: reuters.com