Thursday broker round-up
2nd Feb 2012 09:15
AstraZeneca: Panmure Gordon maintains buy rating and 3,600p target. Imperial Tobacco: Nomura upgrades from reduce to neutral, 2,150p target unchanged. Compass Group: Panmure Gordon maintains buy rating and 675p target. Smith & Nephew: Panmure Gordon reiterates buy stance and 640p target. Unileve
Read moreLondon open: Stocks pull back but Xstrata soars
2nd Feb 2012 08:35
Stocks opened slightly lower on Thursday, pulling back from the +100 point gain for the Footsie yesterday as markets celebrated positive global macroeconomic data with manufacturing indices in the UK, Eurozone, US and China all showing an improvement in January. In other news, ratings agency Standa
Read moreLondon pre-open: Stocks to open slightly higher
2nd Feb 2012 07:45
City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open slightly higher, up 14 points from yesterday's close of 5,791, following strong gains in late trading on Wednesday. Fourth quarter sales at medical devices maker Smith and Nephew came in a touch shy of market expectations, but showed a modest improvemen
Read moreMargin recovers at Smith and Nephew
2nd Feb 2012 07:04
Trading profit margin recovered at Smith and Nephew in the fourth quarter as the medical devices maker boosted revenue and cut costs. Smith & Nephew (S&N) saw revenue rise 3.66% to $1,106m in the final three months of 2011 from $1,067m in the corresponding quarter of last year, a tad below market e
Read moreThursday preview: Shell, Unilever, Smith and Nephew
1st Feb 2012 15:29
As usual, Thursday is the busiest day of the week for scheduled company announcements and this week's big day looks busier than most, with big guns AstraZeneca, Royal Dutch Shell, Smith & Nephew and Unilever are all set to announce full-year results. Integrated oil giant Royal Dutch Shell is tipped
Read moreWednesday broker round-up - UPDATE
1st Feb 2012 07:03
Shire Pharmaceuticals: Credit Suisse maintains outperform rating and 2,350p target. Reckitt Benckiser: Credit Suisse maintains outperform rating and 3,800p target. easyJet: Credit Suisse maintains outperform rating and 503p target. Meggitt: Credit Suisse reiterates underperform rating and 330p ta
Read moreBroker snap: Nomura wary of rising competition for Smith & Nephew
27th Jan 2012 10:03
Nomura has maintained its neutral rating on medical devices marker Smith & Nephew (S&N) after assessing the read-across from US sector peers in the orthopaedic industry. This week, Zimmer, Stryker and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) have released their fourth quarter results, which were largely in line wit
Read moreFriday broker round-up - UPDATE
27th Jan 2012 09:43
CRH: Liberum Capital downgrades to hold from buy. Misys: Espirito Santo downgrades from buy to sell, cuts target to 263p from 275p. Aquarius: Credit Suisse maintains neutral and price target at £2.1. Lonmin: Credit Suisse maintains underperform and price target at £9.8. Imperial Tobacco: Cit
Read moreFriday broker round-up - UPDATE
13th Jan 2012 11:19
Vodafone: Nomura upgrades to buy. Bunzl: UBS cuts to neutral from buy. RSA Insurance: Citi cuts to neutral from buy. BT Group: Nomura upgrades to buy from reduce. RBS: Seymour Price upgrades to buy from reduce. BG Group: JP Morgan raises price target to 1,900p from 1,455p. Tesco: Credit Suiss
Read moreBroker tips: Tesco, Smith & Nephew, Spectris
13th Jan 2012 10:28
Analysts at Credit Suisse seem to be amongst those who were left somewhat traumatised by the carnage in retailer Tesco's share price yesterday. Credit Suisse has revised down their Tesco earnings estimates by 13% for 2012/13E (slightly less thereafter), which is very sizeable in the context of Tes
Read moreBroker snap: Bioventus JV a sensibile move for Smith & Nephew, says Investec
13th Jan 2012 09:52
Investec may have made downgrades to its forecasts for Smith & Nephew, but the broker has maintained its buy rating on the medical devices giant. The group agreed last week to form a joint venture (JV) with Essex Woodlands, a specialist healthcare growth equity and venture capital firm, that will s
Read moreSector movers: ARM has more tricks up its sleeve
5th Jan 2012 13:40
Chip designer ARM Holdings leads the Technology sector higher after a bullish research note from UBS. The Swiss bank reckons ARM's fourth-quarter revenues could be up to 6% higher than the market is expecting. UBS analyst Gareth Jenkins also took a look at other potential catalysts for share price
Read moreLondon close: Footsie follows Wall Street lower
4th Jan 2012 17:12
Having spent most of the day seeking direction, UK investors took the hint from their US counterparts and banked some of yesterday's heavy gains. Fashion chain Next was one of the day's biggest fallers, after a cautious trading statement. The company said "despite a good final week before Christma
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie back to square one
4th Jan 2012 10:38
UK equities are seeking direction after a morning in which the Footsie moved in a narrow band ranging from 5689 to 5720. Fashion chain Next is a drag on the index, after a cautious trading statement. The company said "despite a good final week before Christmas, November and December sales were disa
Read moreLondon open: Retailers caned after Next disappoints
4th Jan 2012 08:38
Footsie has defied expectations of a soft start and has crept above the 5,700 barrier, helped by continuing demand for resource stocks. Fashion chain Next is a drag on the index, however, after a cautious trading statement. The company said"despite a good final week before Christmas, November and D
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