Broker Recommendations
Friday broker round-up
Paragon Banking Group: RBC Capital Markets downgrades to sector performer with a target price of 500p.
Liberum reiterates 'buy' rating on BBA, says business concerns are 'overdone'
Analysts at Liberum believe fears surrounding BBA Aviation's US business jet flying activity are overdone, noting that recent soft data points were "within the normal range" of monthly fluctuation.
RBC Capital starts Paragon at 'sector perform'
RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage of Paragon Banking Group at 'sector perform' with a 500p price target on Friday, noting that buy-to-let growth is still strong and Paragon is the only lender with an expanding margin.
Berenberg ups target price on 'unique' City Pub Group
Analysts at Berenberg reiterated their 'buy' rating and upped their target price on City Pub Group on Thursday morning following the landlord's "solid set" of interim results.
Thursday broker round-up
AVEVA Group: Barclays upgrades to overweight with a target price of 3,150p.
City eye for a fashion guy: Burberry splits analysts
Burberry shares were hit as suited and booted City analysts cast their eye over the London Fashion Week debut of the fashion house's new creative director, Ricardo Tisci.
Barclays upgrades Aveva after capital markets day
Barclays upgraded Aveva to 'overweight' from 'equalweight' on Thursday and lifted the price target to 3,150p from 2,800p following the company's capital markets day a day earlier.
ShoreCap ups Boohoo to 'buy' after share price drop
Shore Capital upgraded online fashion retailer Boohoo to 'buy' from 'hold' on Thursday following a 13% drop in the share price in the last three months.
Berenberg recommends 'fundamentally mispriced' Vodafone
Vodafone is "very cheap", Berenberg said on Wednesday, but in a sector where investors are not keen to take risks and are being put off by "too much noise" about currency weakness in emerging markets.
Citi starts Smiths Group at 'buy', says Medical offers defensive growth
Citi started coverage of engineer Smiths Group at 'buy' on Wednesday with an 1,850p price target.
Wednesday broker round-up
PureCircle: Kepler Cheuvreux downgrades to hold with a target price of 325p.
Double upgrade for SSE as Deutsche sees buying opportunity
Deutsche Bank upgraded SSE to 'buy' from 'sell' on Wednesday, lifting the price target to 1,250p from 1,200p after shares tanked last week on the back of a profit warning.
Exane upgrades Spectris, downgrades IMI
Exane BNP Paribas upgraded Spectris but downgraded IMI on Tuesday as it took a look at the UK capital goods sector.
IWG slumps on Credit Suisse downgrade to 'underperform'
IWG, formerly Regus, tumbled on Tuesday as Credit Suisse cut the stock to 'underperform' from 'neutral' and chopped the price target to 200p from 245p.
Goldman Sachs ups Centrica to 'buy', says underperformance overdone
British Gas owner Centrica got a boost on Tuesday as Goldman Sachs upped the stock to 'buy' from 'sell' and lifted the price target to 176p from 174p saying the underperformance is overdone given the commodity outlook and the fact that the worst of UK regulatory risk is behind us.
Liberum initiates coverage on CareTech with 'buy' rating
Analysts at Liberum initiated coverage on CareTech with a 'buy' rating on Monday, noting that the UK market for social services was worth £16bn and still growing.
Morgan Stanley trims target price for Prudential, but reiterates 'overweight'
Analysts at Morgan Stanley trimmed their target price for shares of Prudential but reiterated their 'overweight' recommendation for the stock ahead of its de-merger into an asset manager to be called M&G Pru and an insurer focused on the UK, US and, above all, Asia.
Sophos slumps on Deutsche Bank downgrade
Security software and hardware company Sophos was under the cosh on Monday as Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to 'hold' from 'buy' and slashed the price target to 530p from 630p amid rising competition and as guidance looks challenging.