BUZZ-Australia's Fleetpartners falls; Macquarie cuts to 'neutral', but ups PT

** Shares of vehicle leasing firm Fleetpartners Group

fall as much as 4.4% to A$3.30

** Stock extends losses to second consecutive session, hits lowest level since late-Feb

** Co on Monday posted 4% fall in H1 net profit after tax excluding amortisation (NPATA) due to lower growth in net operating income excluding end of lease income & provisions

** However, Macquarie says NPATA was 12.2% ahead of the brokerage's forecasts

** Brokerage increases target price to A$3.60 from A$3.01; increases FY24 EPS forecast by 18.9%

** Still, brokerage says lower margins were a drag on earnings; downgrades rating to 'neutral" from 'outperform'

** Three analysts rate the stock "buy" or higher, one "hold" and one "sell"; their median PT is A$3.60 - LSEG data

** Stock up 13.1% YTD as of last close

($1 = 1.5154 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by John Biju in Bengaluru)

((John.Biju@thomsonreuters.com;))