This is what analysts think about the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing share price

Broker research is an important consideration in the strategies of many investors. Reading up on what the experts think - and examining whether they believe a share is a 'buy', 'hold' or 'sell' - can be very useful. For investors, these kinds of recommendations can be a useful consideration - especially when you listen to the consensus view of all the analysts that cover a stock.

Take Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKG:388) as an example. Shares in the company have risen by 21.0% over the past month and they are currently trading at HK$400.2. But what do the analysts that cover the company think?

Based on the broker 'consensus', there could be reasons to believe that the positive recent trend will continue. In terms of trading recommendations, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing currently has:

• 12 Buy recommendations

• 4 Hold recommendations

• 1 Sell recommendations

This suggests that analysts are generally upbeat about the outlook.

At its current price of HK$400.2, shares in Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing are trading at a discount of -26.4% to its 52 week high price. The 1-year performance of the shares has been -15.5%.

While analyst forecasts can be a useful guide to what City 'experts' think about a stock's near term future, they can be unreliable. To get a better idea about the strengths and weaknesses of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing it's worth doing some investigation yourself. Indeed, we've identified some areas of concern with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing that you can find out about here.