On Monday I looked at three ASX shares that have been given buy ratings by leading brokers this week.
Unfortunately, not all shares are in favour with brokers right now. The three shares listed below have all just been given sell ratings. Here's why:
Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK)
According to a note out of Citi, its analysts have downgraded this furniture retailer's shares to a sell rating from neutral and cut the price target on them to $5.35. With a number of recent earnings downgrades being blamed on the housing market downturn, Citi suspects that Nick Scali could also be underperforming expectations. The Nick Scali share price is currently trading slightly lower at $5.77.
ResMed Inc. (ASX: RMD)
A note out of the Macquarie equities desk reveals that its analysts have retained their underperform rating and increased the price target on this sleep treatment-focused medical device company's shares to $14.25 following the release of its third quarter results. According to the note, ResMed outperform the broker's expectation in the third quarter. However, with its shares currently trading at a higher than normal premium to many of its of international medical device peers, the broker feels its shares are overvalued. The ResMed share price has edged lower to $15.98 this afternoon.
Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)
Analysts at Deutsche Bank have retained their sell rating and lowly $22.00 price target on this banking giant's shares following the release of its half year results. According to the note, the broker was disappointed with the performance of Westpac's consumer division and appears concerned with management's comments around credit quality being unlikely to improve. Westpac's shares are currently up 0.9% to $27.34, which means that Deutsche's price target implies almost 20% downside for its shares over the next 12 months excluding dividends.
