Broker tips: Lloyds, National Express, Whitbread

16th Oct 2009 12:24

News of the disposal of its Halifax Estate Agencies sent shares in Lloyds higher Friday, but an upgrade from Deutsche Bank will have done no harm either. The German bank notes that the economy has strengthened, yet shares in Lloyds are 15% below their recent peak.It lifts its recommendation to 'buy' from 'hold' and its target price to 115p from 100p.Panmure Gordon maintains its 'hold' rating on National Express despite the news that the consortium comprising private equity group CVC Capital Partners and the Cosmen family has decided not to make an offer for the group.The broker also maintains its 450p target price, even though as it said this morning, it expects the company's share price to fall towards 400p.Shares in National Express are now sitting at less than 345p.Charles Stanley reiterates its 'accumulate' recommendation on Whitbread after the hotel and coffee shop operator's results demonstrated the resilience of its business model 'in an extremely tough economic environment.'The broker notes that Premier Inn's RevPAR, a measure of revenue per hotel room, was much better than the industry average.'We expect the RevPAR recovery to continue as the UK economy gradually recovers and anticipate further forecast upgrades going forward,' the broker said.