Broker tips: G4S, Cairn, 888

29th Aug 2012 12:28

Jefferies has reduced its target price for security group G4S from 285p to 275p and maintained its 'hold' rating, saying that reputational repair following the Olympics contract issues could take some time."Rehabilitation from Olympics issues is likely to take some time and we suspect G4S's valuation multiple will be subdued by fears that the reputational negative may impair trend EPS growth," Jefferies said. "Until uncertainty recedes, the PE [price-to-earnings ratio] multiple is likely to remain rooted in the bottom quartile of its 9-17x through the cycle range."UBS has maintained its 'neutral' rating for oil giant Cairn Energy, saying that while the company is going in the right direction, there's still 'some way to go'."Following Cairn's 1H we feel the company is now well on the way to having the foundations for becoming a full cycle E&P with exposures to various levels of risk: low risk development in the North Sea, low/medium risk exploration in the North Sea, and higher risk, and frontier exploration in Greenland, Spain, Morocco, and potentially Cyprus," the broker said on Wednesday."Yet with development and high impact exploration not kicking in until late 2013/2014, we are still of the view that it is too soon to change our 'neutral' view on the stock."Investec has upgraded its rating for 888 Holdings from 'sell' to 'buy' and hiked its target price from 18p to 95p after the online gaining group's first-half results."888 has made significant progress in driving the business forward over the past 18 months, with a change in CEO and subsequent strategic direction, more effectively targeting a higher volume of actives with a materially improved product offering," said analyst James Hollins.BC