Broker tips: Reckitt, Polymetal, Ladbrokes

28th Jun 2012 11:39

Consumer products group Reckitt Benckiser was under the weather on Thursday morning after Credit Suisse downgraded its rating on the stock from 'outperform' to 'neutral' and cut its target price to 3,500p from 3,800p."Reckitt's historical outperformance in the marketplace was driven by its almost unique ability to garner growth from the developed markets, and in particular Europe," the broker said in a research note."This hasn't been the case for two to three years now, and we don't see that changing any time soon. In part it is the market, but market share is also a contributory factor, and competition isn't about to ease off."UBS has downgraded its recommendation for precious metals miner Polymetal from 'buy' to 'neutral' on the back of the stock's recent strength and weaker silver prices."We think that sharply weaker silver prices will likely have a read-through for silver-exposed equities through lower earnings and net asset value (NAV) expectations," UBS said. The price target is cut from 1,060p to 970p due to the decline in the price-to-NAV multiple of 1.3, down from 1.4 previously. Peel Hunt has downgraded its rating for betting firm Ladbrokes from 'buy' to 'hold' after the group said that Digital profits would decline by more than expected in the first half."There was always a risk that there would be some delay in the Digital turnaround and poor sports results have simply given greater exposure to the issues. Credibility will take a knock but ultimately we believe a stronger, better Digital business will emerge," said analyst Nick Batram.In spite of this, the shares (prior to today's fall) were close to the broker's 180p target price and this, together with the Digital delays, means that a 'hold' recommendation is "more appropriate", Batram said.BC