Thursday broker round-up
28th May 2015 09:44
Direct Line: JP Morgan upgrades to overweight. Admiral: JP Morgan reiterates underweight. TUI: JP Morgan stays at overweight with 1,275p target. RSA: JP Morgan ups target to 451p from 433p, keeps at neutral. SAGA: JP Morgan raises target to 207p from 185p but remains at neutral. De La Rue: JP MOrg
Read moreSunday share tips: Tate & Lyle, Direct Line and Bloomsbury Publishing
24th May 2015 17:15
Insurer Direct Line's shares are worth holding, according to Midas in the Mail on Sunday. The insurer is part of a new tendency of companies to pay special dividends on top of their two payments per year. Directors have proposed special dividends every year and are expected to pay two for 2015, taki
Read moreThursday broker round-up
7th May 2015 16:39
Morrison: Shore Capital reiterates buy. Direct Line Insurance Group: Canaccord Genuity reiterates buy and 350p target. BAE Systems: Charles Stanley reiterates accumulate. GlaxoSmithKline: UBS reiterates buy and 1,700p target. Aviva: Panmure Gordon reiterates buy and raises target to 660p from 600
Read moreLondon pre-open: Stocks to rebound slightly from one-month low
6th May 2015 07:39
UK stocks are expected to inch higher early on Wednesday after dropping to their lowest finish in over a month amid political uncertainty and macro concerns. City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open four points higher than Tuesday's close of 6,927.58. This was the index's lowest close since 2 Apr
Read moreDirect Line Group reaffirms full-year guidance
6th May 2015 07:29
Direct Line Group, the insurer, saw gross written premiums slip by 0.9% over the first quarter ended in 31 March. However, total costs were 10.1% lower to £220.7m and on track to fall in absolute terms over 2015. Gross written premiums in Motor were stable, the company said. Motor and Home in-forc
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Astrazeneca soars on new diabetes research, RBS higher on upgrade
12th Mar 2015 14:00
AstraZeneca topped the risers as it committed $40m to backing phase 2a trials for a new diabetes drug - a form of long-acting insulin that only needs to be administered once week. Glaxosmithkline was boosted by news it plans to sell approximately half of its 12.4% stake in Aspen Pharmacare Holdings.
Read moreDirect Line CEO sells £1.15m of shares after bonus award
10th Mar 2015 15:18
The chief executive of Direct Line Insurance Group sold £1.15m-worth of shares in the Britain's largest motor insurer. Paul Geddes was awarded 717,300 shares under a 2010 long-term incentive plan when Direct Line used to be owned by RBS, but sold 337,638 of them for an individual price of 339.81p in
Read moreSector movers: RSA, Jardine Lloyd Thompson and Direct Line drag non-life insurers lower
3rd Mar 2015 15:28
Non-life insurers were out of favour on Tuesday as a broker downgrade at RSA and a cool reaction to results from Jardine Lloyd Thompson and Direct Line weighed on sentiment. General insurer RSA was trading 2.7% lower after analysts at Bernstein lowered their rating on the stock from 'outperform' to
Read moreDirect Line reports 12% rise in pre-tax profits but strikes a cautious outlook
3rd Mar 2015 08:03
Insurance group Direct Line reported a 12% increase in full-year pre-tax profit from continuing operations but struck a cautious tone on the outlook for UK motor and home insurance markets. Britain's largest motor insurer reported a pre-tax profit of £456.8m for 2014 compared with £407.3m in the pre
Read moreSector movers: RSA drags non-life insurers lower as results underwhelm
26th Feb 2015 15:14
Underwhelming results from RSA were weighing down on the non-life insurance sector on Thursday despite the FTSE 100 company swinging to a profit and recommencing its dividend payment. RSA, the third-largest insurer in the UK, reported a pre-tax profit of £275m for 2014, compared with a £244m loss th
Read moreSector movers: Glencore and Anglo American rise, Admiral in reverse
20th Jan 2015 16:21
A spate of stronger-than-expected economic reports out of China overnight triggered a small rebound in commodity stocks such as Glencore and Anglo American following recent heavy losses. At 7.3%, the rate of growth in Chinese Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the last three months of last year was un
Read moreLondon close: Stocks inch higher in shortened session as Santa Rally continues
24th Dec 2014 12:46
The UK stock market closed a half-session in positive territory on Christmas Eve to extend its winning streak into the seventh straight day. With trading volumes low - many European markets were already closed for Christmas - London stocks were rangebound for most of the session as investors refrain
Read moreMonday broker round-up UPDATE
3rd Nov 2014 10:47
Aa: Liberum Capital initiates with a target price of 417p and a buy recommendation. Afren: UBS lowers target price from 130p to 115p, keeping a buy recommendation. Anglo American: Nomura reduces target price from 1550p to 1400p, while leaving its neutral rating unaltered. Barclays: Exane ups targe
Read moreLondon midday: BoJ stimulus sparks surge, as RBS and IAG jump
31st Oct 2014 11:45
London's stock market surged on Friday, following on from a stellar performance by Asian stocks after Japan's central bank surprised with an increase to its monetary-easing programme. Better-than-expected quarterly profits from RBS and an increase to full-year guidance at IAG also helped to boost se
Read moreLondon open: RBS and IAG lead gains as UK stocks rise on BoJ stimulus
31st Oct 2014 08:34
London's stock market jumped in early deals on Friday, trading at levels not seen since the start of the month, after Japan's central bank unexpectedly ramped up its monetary-easing plan in a bid to revive growth. Sentiment was also helped by some well-received third-quarter results from heavyweight
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