Broker tips: BHP Billiton, StanChart, Balfour Beatty, Debenhams

20th Aug 2014 12:52

Credit Suisse said it sees a "lack of upside" at BHP Billiton after the company underwhelmed the market with its demerger plans, downgrading the mining stock from 'neutral' to 'underperform'.Credit Suisse said: "We think the shares have moved up on capital management expectations that were not delivered and with i) no buyback to maintain interest levels and ii) a full valuation in both absolute and relative terms we move to 'underperform' from 'neutral' given lack of upside relative to our [target price]."The news of $300m fine by US regulators failed to dampen the demand for Standard Chartered shares on Wednesday, with Investec providing a lift after reiterating its 'buy' stance on the stock.The broker said that while the scale of the financial penalty appears "very high in relation to its alleged failings", the fall-out from the fine appears "contained", with the vast majority of the bank's businesses unaffected.There is little left that Carillion can do ahead of the 'put up or shut up' deadline in its pursuit of infrastructure specialist Balfour Beatty, according to analysts at Liberum Capital, after the latter rejected a sweetened proposal from the construction group on Wednesday."Carillion's final throw of the dice is to try to persuade 50% of the Balfour Beatty shareholder list to vote down the PB sale at EGM - a very risky strategy for Balfour shareholders," the broker said. As for Balfour, Liberum rates the stock as a 'buy' and said that Carillion's approach will have reminded the market of the long-term value at the group.Cantor Fitzgerald has lifted its recommendation for high street department store Debenhams from 'sell' to 'hold' after the recent sell-off in the shares, though it remains cautious about the retailer's longer-term strategy.The broker said that there is "limited scope" for Debenhams to increase the current rate of dividend growth.BC