FTSE 100 movers: Man Group leads the way after upgrade

27th Apr 2012 15:24

Hedge fund manager Man Group became the highest riser after Societe Generale upgraded its rating on the stock from hold to buy. Earlier this week Swiss bank UBS suggested the hedge fund operator could be a takeover target as its shares have more than halved over the last year, and are down by a quarter over the last month alone. Barclays was also making solid gains after Friday's annual general meeting (AGM) with the focus very much on the contentious issue of remuneration for top-level directors. "We will continue to be solely motivated by what is in the best long term interests of you, the shareholders and [...] will be engaging even more closely going forward with our shareholders whilst ensuring a greater proportion of income and profit flows to shareholders," said Alison Carnwath from the group's Remuneration Committee. Building group CRH and real estate investment trust British Land were also being helped higher by a ratings upgrade, this time from JP Morgan Cazenove which lifted its recommendation on both stocks to overweight. Meanwhile pharmaceutical group Shire was among the worst performers today, pulling back of yesterday's well-received first-quarter results. AstraZeneca was also lower after yesterday scaling back full-year core earnings per share guidance and revealing that its CEO would be retiring. FTSE 100 - RisersMan Group (EMG) 103.80p +10.72%Barclays (BARC) 220.15p +3.36%CRH (CRH) 1,261.00p +3.36%ICAP (IAP) 381.10p +3.28%British Land Co (BLND) 498.30p +3.10%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,223.00p +2.34%Land Securities Group (LAND) 743.00p +2.20%Carnival (CCL) 2,042.00p +2.10%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 520.50p +2.06%Wolseley (WOS) 2,405.00p +2.04%FTSE 100 - FallersPolymetal International (POLY) 900.50p -1.58%BT Group (BT.A) 213.10p -1.39%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 31.16p -0.98%Unilever (ULVR) 2,114.00p -0.98%Whitbread (WTB) 1,904.00p -0.88%Shire Plc (SHP) 2,025.00p -0.74%Compass Group (CPG) 646.50p -0.69%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,224.00p -0.65%Vodafone Group (VOD) 171.00p -0.64%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 283.40p -0.60%NR