Broker tips: Lloyds, Lonmin, Laird

17th Aug 2012 12:35

Given Lloyds's resilient share price performance so far this year, Investec has downgraded its rating on the bank from 'buy' to 'hold'.Analyst Ian Gordon said: "Up 27%, Lloyds' shareholders can take satisfaction from the stock's year-to-date outperformance against all other UK banks." Nevertheless, the broker said that the outlook for return on equity (RoE) recovery "remains painfully slow, with scope for negative surprise".Panmure Gordon has reiterated its 'buy' rating and 1,186p target price for platinum producer Lonmin, but its production forecasts have been lowered due to the headline-hitting strikes at its Marikana mine which have resulted in the deaths of more than 30 of its workers.As a result, Panmure has reduced its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) forecast for this year from $181m to just $138m. Net debt estimates have also risen from $516m to $539m which moves the net debt to EBITDA ratio to 3.9 - "uncomfortably close to the 4.0 times debt convenient".With growth momentum improving at Laird, UBS has upgraded its recommendation on the stock from 'neutral' to 'buy' and raised its forecasts for the electrical components manufacturer."We expect revenue growth for Laird to accelerate in H2 [second half of the year] driven by the new iPhone launch by Apple, a lap-top product cycle driven by Windows 8 and a recovery in some other end markets such as telecom infrastructure," the broker said in a research report on Friday.After increasing its medium-term revenue forecasts by 2-3% and earnings per share estimates by 7-12%, UBS lifts its target price from 198p to 235p.BC