Broker tips: RSA, ITV, Balfour Beatty

5th Feb 2014 12:04

JPMorgan Cazenove has said that the appointment of Stephen Hester at RSA is 'welcome and timely' ahead of the outcome of the review into the troubled insurance firm due later this month.The bank said that Hester has "significant" experience in restructuring in the financial sector and his retail banking background "should help in establishing processes that strengthen the group's control function whilst at the same time bringing new strategic insights to RSA".Galvan Research and Trading has labelled television group ITV as a 'buy' on the back of the company's move into the pay-TV market with its new ITV Encore channel."Given that the company is a play on the UK economic recovery, the new Encore channel appears ideally timed to capture extra revenues from the consumer, while the ultra-solid fundamentals are also supported by the ongoing uptrend in the shares. Switch over and buy ITV," Galvan said.RBC Capital Markets has upgraded its rating for infrastructure services company Balfour Beatty by two notches, saying that the stock is "geared to the recovery" in the UK.The broker lifted its stance on the shares from 'underperform' to 'outperform' and hiked its target price from 210p to 310p. "We believe that the outlook in its end markets is more positive," said Analyst Olivia Peters.BC