Broker tips: StanChart, AVEVA, Thomas Cook

24th May 2013 10:50

Investec has maintained its 'buy' rating and 1,900p target price for emerging markets-focused lender Standard Chartered, saying that the stock remains its top pick in the banking sector.Gordon highlighted StanChart's "unique growth profile" which translates to a 19% earnings-per-share (EPS) growth forecast this year despite a challenging first quarter. The stock - "bizarrely in our view" - is now one of the cheapest UK banks, trading at 9.7 times 2013 EPS versus HSBC which trades at 11.3 times 2013 EPS.Credit Suisse has lifted its target price for engineering data and IT group AVEVA from 2,013p to 2,240p to reflect the company's cash return and a lower tax rate.However, the broker has maintained its 'neutral' rating for the stock, highlighting concerns with weak cash flows and a slowing core business.Panmure Gordon has upgraded its rating for travel operator Thomas Cook by two notches from 'sell' to 'buy' and hiked its target price from 54p to 164p following last week's interim results and capital reorganisation."We believe Thomas Cook is still in the infancy of its transformation project. The confidence displayed by management leads us to believe trading is recovering, whilst there remains significantly more cost to be removed from the business."