Broker tips: Burberry, AB Foods, Motor insurers

20th Jan 2014 12:11

Credit Suisse has lowered its recommendation for luxury fashion brand Burberry from 'outperform' to 'neutral', saying that the outlook for the stock looks 'tough' in the near term."We now think that Burberry's superior top-line momentum is unlikely to translate into superior earnings growth versus its luxury peers over the next two years," Credit Suisse said.UBS has named food ingredients and retail firm Associated British Foods as its 'Key Call', as it hiked its target price for the stock from 2,430p to 2,890p following last week's first-quarter update.The bank believes that AB Foods, rated 'buy', should trade on a higher multiple due to the structural growth story at its retail division Primark. Primark is now being valued - based on the current share price - as 70% of the whole company given UBS' £15.5bn valuation for the retailer.Canaccord Genuity has lifted its target prices across the UK motor insurance sector after recent data showed that premium trends began to improve at the end of last year.The broker has lifted its rating for Admiral from 'sell' to 'hold' and raised its target price from 1,160p to 1,400p. The target for Direct Line ('buy') has been raised from 240p to 275p, while the target for esure ('buy') has been lifted from 255p to 305p.BC