Broker tips: Tesco, Fresnillo, Coca-Cola HBC

18th Feb 2015 11:44

The appointment of Dixons Carphone chairman John Allan as the head of Tesco's board has been applauded by analysts at Shore Capital, who said it represented "another job completed in the repair of Tesco".The broker, which kept a 'hold' rating on the supermarket stock, said that Allan "has a distinguished past" and his "turnaround experience may be highly valuable". Investors are likely to welcome Allan's appointment and the "ongoing evolution" of the board under new chief executive Dave Lewis, the broker said.UBS has lowered its target price for Fresnillo, saying that the Mexican precious metals miner's final dividend payout for 2014 is "uncertain". The bank cut its 12-month target for the shares from 950p to 850p and retained a 'neutral' recommendation for investors.Fresnillo's regular dividend has been based on the company paying out 50% of net income excluding revaluation impacts from its Silverstream operations. However, with UBS' downwardly-revised earnings per share forecast now standing at just 9.7 cents, it pointed out that Fresnillo's interim dividend of 5.0 cents already represents a 50% payout ratio for the full year.Credit Suisse has lowered its estimates for Coca-Cola HBC after annual results from the bottling firm missed City forecasts on Wednesday, highlighting continued challenges for the group this year.The bank maintained a 'neutral' rating for the stock with a 1,100p target price, saying: "Whilst the volume outlook is cautiously optimistic, 2015 will be another year of significant currency headwinds, which leads us to cut EPS estimates by 8-9%, now c5% below consensus."