Broker Upgrades and Downgrades & Key UK Corporate Snapshots 10 July 2015

UK Broker Upgrades / Downgrades

 

 

Code Company Broker Recomm. From Recomm. To Price From Price To
Upgrades
AAL Anglo American Plc CitiGroup Sell Neutral
BA. BAE Systems Plc Berenberg Hold Buy 530 570
BDEV Barratt Developments Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy 661 662
BLT BHP Billiton Plc CitiGroup Neutral Buy
GLEN Glencore Plc CitiGroup Neutral Buy
HAS Hays Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral Neutral 145 155
PMO Premier Oil Plc Jefferies International Hold Buy 170 185
RIO Rio Tinto Plc CitiGroup Neutral Buy
TALK TalkTalk Telecom Group Plc Jefferies International Underperform Underperform 260 275
ULVR Unilever Plc Jefferies International Underperform Underperform 2520 2730
Downgrades
ASHM Ashmore Group Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Underweight Underweight 275 265
ASHM Ashmore Group Plc Jefferies International Buy Buy 392 373
BARC Barclays Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy 305 287
DRX Drax Group Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold 370 270
GSK GlaxoSmithKline Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold 1540 1490
LMI Lonmin Plc UBS Neutral Sell
PDG Pendragon Plc Berenberg Buy Buy 45 44
SYNT Synthomer Plc HSBC Hold Hold 300 285
WEIR Weir Group Plc/The Barclays Capital Equal weight Equal weight 1630 1500
Initiate/Neutral/Unchanged
ABF Associated British Foods Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight Overweight 3400 3400
ABF Associated British Foods Plc Barclays Capital Overweight Overweight 3000 3000
ALD Allied Gold Mining Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy
ASHM Ashmore Group Plc Barclays Capital Underweight Underweight 280 280
AVV Aveva Group Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral Neutral
AZN AstraZeneca Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold 4850 4850
BARC Barclays Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy
BARC Barclays Plc Credit Suisse Neutral Neutral 250 250
BARC Barclays Plc Goldman Sachs Conviction Buy Conviction Buy 330 330
BKG Berkeley Group Holdings Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold
BRBY Burberry Group Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral Neutral
BRBY Burberry Group Plc Barclays Capital Equal weight Equal weight 1675 1675
BT.A BT Group Plc Jefferies International Buy Buy 515 515
BVS Bovis Homes Group Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy
BWY Bellway Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold
CRDA Croda International Plc Societe Generale Buy 3050
CRDA Croda International Plc HSBC Buy Buy 3250 3250
CRH CRH Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold
CRST Crest Nicholson Holdings Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold
CWC Cable & Wireless Communications Plc Jefferies International Buy Buy 82 82
DNLM Dunelm Group Plc Jefferies International Buy Buy 1025 1025
GNK Greene King Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy 1175 1175
HAS Hays Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold 125 125
HSBA HSBC Holdings Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold
HSBA HSBC Holdings Plc Credit Suisse Underperform Underperform 580 580
INCH Inchcape Plc Berenberg Buy Buy 915 915
JDW JD Wetherspoon Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold 745 745
JMAT Johnson Matthey Plc HSBC Buy Buy 3800 3800
LLOY Lloyds Banking Group Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy
MERL Merlin Entertainments Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy 475 475
MKS Marks & Spencer Group Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight Overweight 600 600
PMO Premier Oil Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy 215 215
PMO Premier Oil Plc Barclays Capital Overweight Overweight 250 250
PSN Persimmon Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold
RBS Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold
RBS Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc Credit Suisse Underperform Underperform 320 320
RDW Redrow Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold
SHI SIG Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold
SHP Shire Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy 6000 6000
SKY Sky Plc Jefferies International Hold Hold 975 975
STAN Standard Chartered Plc Deutsche Bank Sell Sell
TPK Travis Perkins Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold
TW. Taylor Wimpey Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy
VOD Vodafone Group Plc Jefferies International Hold Hold 230 230
WTB Whitbread Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy 6000 6000

 

US Broker Upgrades / Downgrades

 

 

Code Company Broker Recomm. From Recomm. To Price From Price To
Upgrades
ASOMF ASOS Liberum Sell Hold
AXS AXIS Capital Holdings Macquarie Neutral Outperform $52 $65
BNPQY BNP Paribas Societe Generale Sell Hold
HSBC HSBC Holdings Exane BNP Paribas Underperform Neutral
JBHT JB Hunt Transport Services Longbow Neutral Buy
KNX Knight Transportation Credit Suisse Neutral Outperform
MBLY Mobileye N.V. Robert W. Baird Neutral Outperform $47 $73
NI NiSource JP Morgan Neutral Overweight $20 $20
PNRA Panera Bread Goldman Sachs Sell Neutral
SNN Smith & Nephew Berenberg Hold Buy
SCBFF Standard Chartered PLC Investec Sell Hold
STO Statoil ASA Exane BNP Paribas Neutral Outperform
SYF Synchrony Financial Barclays Equal weight Overweight $30 $38
TGH Textainer Group Holdings Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey Neutral Buy
TRV Travelers Companies BofA Merrill Lynch Neutral Buy $112 $110
WU Western Union Monness Crespi & Hardt Neutral Buy $22 $22
Downgrades
ACGL Arch Capital Group BofA Merrill Lynch Buy Neutral
ATHX Athersys Piper Jaffray Overweight Neutral
CTAGY Capita Exane BNP Paribas Outperform Neutral
CNW Con-way Credit Suisse Outperform Neutral
DNKN Dunkin Brands Group Goldman Sachs Buy Neutral
PNK Pinnacle Entertainment Susquehanna Positive Neutral
SHAK Shake Shack Goldman Sachs Neutral Sell
TKPPY Technip Exane BNP Paribas Outperform Neutral
TC Thompson Creek Metals Company Stifel Buy Hold
VR Validus Holdings BofA Merrill Lynch Neutral Underperform
WRB W.R. Berkley BofA Merrill Lynch Buy Neutral
WCC Wesco International JP Morgan Overweight Neutral $71 $71
WETF WisdomTree Investments Susquehanna Positive Neutral
Initiated
CHGG Chegg Barrington Research Outperform $16
CBPO China Biologic Products BofA Merrill Lynch Buy $135
CR Crane Global Hunter Securities Neutral $63
ENV Envestnet Northland Capital Outperform $50
EVR Evercore Partners Buckingham Research Buy $66
GWB Great Western Bancorp JP Morgan Overweight $30
GSVC GSV Capital Northland Capital Outperform $13
MTRX Matrix Service Avondale Market Perform $19
NGG National Grid Jefferies Buy
P Pandora Media Northland Capital Outperform $20
PYPL PayPal Holdings Monness Crespi & Hardt Neutral
PTXP PennTex Midstream Partners, LP Robert W. Baird Outperform $25
SPB Spectrum Brands Holdings Gabelli & Co Hold $124
TNGO Tangoe Northland Capital Outperform $18
TUBE TubeMogul JP Morgan Overweight $20
RARE Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical JMP Securities Market Outperform $119
WTS Watts Water Technologies Global Hunter Securities Accumulate $57
WRK WestRock CitiGroup Buy $73

 

Key UK Corporate Snapshots Today

Alliance Pharma Plc (APH.L) Announced the appointment of Andrew Franklin as Finance Director. Andrew will join the Company and the Board with effect from 28 September 2015.

Altona Energy Plc (ANR.L) Announced that exploration Licences, Nos. 4511, 4512 and 4513, in relation to the Company’s Arckaringa Project drilling operations, have received permission from the South Australian government for a renewal of a period of 12 months, subject to the usual publication in the Government Gazette. The Company has entered into a formal business relationship with Parsons Brinkerhoff, which has now delivered its exploration plan for Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) and a hydrology study for the Arckaringa site. The Company is in the process of adding its own evaluations to this information, ahead of the commencement of test drilling. The Company remains confident in its choice of UCG as the best method of extraction for its Arckaringa site, and believes it will retain the support of the South Australian government, based on the publication of an in-depth report from December 2012 by the Energy Resource Division, entitled, Roadmap for Unconventional Gas Projects in South Australia. The Company remains in negotiation with its joint venture partners, Sino-Aus Energy Group Limited and Wintask Group Limited. It is hoped a final agreement, beneficial to all parties, will be reached soon and the Company will provide an update once this has happened.

ATTRAQT Group Plc (ATQT.L) Announced that it has been appointed by Bfashion, an Eastern European online fashion retailer, to deliver its full suite of products across eight international sites. The company’s Freestyle Merchandising platform will boost Bfashion’s visual merchandising, site search and navigation, and product recommendation capabilities, upgrading its current ecommerce platform across Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Croatia and Greece in line with local visual merchandising rules. As part of this adoption of the company’s suite of products, Bfashion has opted to use the ATTRAQTMailT service, launched in Q4 2014 which will allow Bfashion to merchandise to customers through its current email marketing system, and will also benefit from the company’s professional services department for a full site review and follow-up workshops.

Aurasian Minerals Plc (AUM.L) Announced the appointments of Peter James Mullens as Chief Executive Officer and Gokhan Kantarcigil as a non-executive director of the company. Both appointments will be effective immediately following the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting. Aditionally, Mr. Mullens and Mr. Kantarcigil have also agreed to subscribe for 47,591,741 ordinary shares in the capital of the company (“Ordinary Shares”) at a price of 0.436p per Ordinary Share to raise £207,500 for the company.

Daniel Stewart Securities Plc (DAN.L) Announced that it has appointed Andrew Ross McIver as an independent Non-Executive Director of the company with immediate effect. He will also be a part of the company’s Audit Committee.

Ergomed Plc (ERGO.L) Announced that it has appointed Andrew Mackie as Chief Business Officer and Executive Director to its board.

Frontera Resources Corporation (FRR.L) Announced that during the month of June 2015, it surpassed another milestone of more than one million man hours worked throughout its operations without any recordable injuries. This achievement places Frontera in the top tier of global exploration and production industry safety performance.

Hammerson Plc (HMSO.L) Announced that it has exchanged contracts to sell its interest in Grand Maine shopping centre situated to the south west of Angers, to a leading French institutional investor for a net vendor price of €63.2 million (£45.3 million).

Hummingbird Resources Plc (HUM.L) Announced that it has signed a 25 year Mineral Development Agreement (‘MDA’ or ‘Agreement’) with the Government of Liberia (‘GoL’) for the 2,000km2 Dugbe Shear Zone, containing its 4.2Moz Dugbe Gold Project, in Liberia. The MDA has been signed with the GoL, and is expected to be signed by the President of Liberia shortly.

Ilika Plc (IKA.L) Announced, in audited full-year results for the year ended 30 April 2015, that revenue stood at £1.09 million, compared to £1.05 million in the same period last year. Operating loss stood at £3.08 million, compared to a loss of £3.10 million. Loss after tax was £2.70 million, compared to a loss of £2.79 million. Diluted loss per share from continuing operations stood at 4.10p, compared to a loss of 5.37p. Additionally, the company also announced that Mike Inglis has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director with immediate effect. It is the company’s intention for Mike to take over from Jack Boyer OBE as Ilika’s Non-executive Chairman pending Mike’s successful election at the company’s next AGM in September.

Infrastructure India Plc (IIP.L) Announced its annual results for the 12 months ended 31 March 2015. Net Asset Value increased to £373.6 million as at 31 March 2015 (£294.9 million 30 September 2014; £212.3 million 31 March 2014). NAV per share was £0.55 as at 31 March 2015 (£0.43 September 2014; £0.62 March 2014). The value of the IIP Group’s investments in its subsidiaries increased to £368.6 million as at 31 March 2015 (£271.5 million 30 September 2014 and £221.4 million 31 March 2014). Currency rates strengthened at the end of the fiscal year with the INR per GBP rate of 92.8 as at 31 March 2015 (99.8 at 30 September 2014 and 99.4 at 31 March 2014). The risk-free rate, based on the Indian 10-year bond, decreased to 7.74% as at 31 March 2015 from 8.51% on 30 September 2014 and 8.80% on 31 March 2014. Following the end of the fiscal year the Rupee has weakened against Pound Sterling. As at the date of this report, the weakening Rupee and the prevailing INR per GBP rate has had the effect of negating a significant portion of the increase in net assets of the Company seen as at 31 March 2015. Total investment during the full fiscal year was £41 million, which was advanced to DLI to fund construction, servicing of liabilities, and working capital. Chief Executive Sonny Lulla said “We are pleased with what was accomplished during the year. Progress, particularly at DLI, is reflected in net asset value for the period and we are optimistic that continued and demonstrated progress will begin to narrow the prevailing share price discount. Valuations can be expected to strengthen as DLI’s remaining facilities are commissioned, putting us in a position where the vast majority of the businesses in the portfolio will be operating by the end of the current fiscal year.

InterContinental Hotels Group Plc (IHG.L) Announced that it has agreed to sell IHG’s ownership interest in InterContinental Hong Kong (the “Hotel”) to Supreme Key Limited, a consortium of investors advised and managed by Gaw Capital Partners (the “Buyer”), for a gross purchase price of $938 million. The Buyer has paid a cash deposit to IHG of $94 million, with the remaining proceeds payable in cash on completion. The Buyer has made a further commitment to invest in a significant refurbishment of the Hotel. This is expected to commence in 2017 and will take place over a period of approximately 18 months.

K3 Business Technology Group Plc (KBT.L) Announced in its trading update for the financial year to 30 June 2015 that the group has continued its good progress in the second half and the full year result is expected to be broadly in line with market expectations as the Dutch market and the weakening euro have affected its performance. Net debt at the year-end reduced to approximately £12.1 million (30 June 2014: £13.6 million) which included the cash payment of £1.75 million for the acquisition of hosting business, Willow Starcom Limited, in the fourth quarter. Recurring income (from software licence renewals, support contracts and hosting) remains high and is expected to show a YoY increase. The company also stated that it is making progress in its intellectual property (“IP”) growth strategy which is focused on the development and sales of its own IP.

Mercia Technologies Plc (MERC.L) Announced in its final results for the year ended 31 March 2015, that revenue stood at £0.508 million. The company’s profit before tax was seen at £1.968 million. The basic and diluted earnings per share stood at 0.93p. The company’s cash and cash equivalents stood at £23.6 million.

Petrofac Limited (PFC.L) Announced that it received an award notification for Kuwait Oil Company’s (KOC) manifold group trunkline (MGT) system in the north of Kuwait. The lump-sum engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) project, valued at approximately $780 million, is integral to KOC’s plans to increase and maintain crude production over the next five years.

Porta Communications Plc (PTCM.L) Announced that its subsidiary business Newgate Communications has been appointed by 2 Sisters Food Group, one of the UK’s largest food manufacturing companies. Newgate Communications will provide a combined corporate and financial communications and public affairs programme to support the growth of 2 Sisters Food Group.

PureCircle Limited (PURE.L) Announced the appointment, effective today, of Mr. Mitch Adamek and Mr. Guy Wollaert as Non-Executive Directors of PureCircle.

Rame Energy Plc (RAME.L) Announced the launch of its UK solar generating subsidiary which will initially own and operate up to four UK rooftop photovoltaic (“PV”) projects with a total potential capacity of 120kW. To facilitate these projects, the Company has incorporated Rame Solar Limited (“Rame Solar”) a new, wholly owned subsidiary established as the holding company for the Company’s future UK solar power projects.

ReNeuron Group Plc (RENE.L) Announced, in its preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2015, that operating loss stood at £10.39 million, compared to a loss of £7.97 million in the same period last year. Loss after tax was £8.91 million, compared to a loss of £7.06 million. Basic and diluted loss per share stood at 0.5p, compared to a loss of 0.5p. Additionally, the company also announced that it has raised a total of £68.4 million, before expenses, through a conditional placing that will enable the company to build on the considerable recent progress achieved across its therapeutic programmes. £68.4 million (before expenses) of firm commitments to be raised through an oversubscribed placing of 1,367,411,939 new ordinary shares at a price of 5p per share.Placing proceeds to provide working capital for core cell-based therapeutic programmes and new exosome nanomedicine programme in oncology through to first half of 2019. Placing provides funding for stroke and retinitis pigmentosa programmes through to market authorisation application based on existing clinical development plans. Issue Price represents a 2.5% premium to the closing mid-market price of an existing ordinary share of 4.88p on 9 July 2015, being the last business day prior to this announcement.

ReNeuron Group Plc (RENE.L) Announced its preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2015. Revenues in the year amounted to £30k (2014: £22k), being royalties from non-therapeutic licensing activities. Grant income of £0.52 million (2014: £0.66 million) was also recognised. Total comprehensive loss for the year increased to £8.91 million (2014: £7.07 million) in line with both internal and consensus analyst forecasts. Separately, the company announced that it has raised a total of £68.4 million, before expenses, through a conditional placing (the “Placing”) that will enable the Company to build on the considerable recent progress achieved across its therapeutic programmes. Following completion of the Placing, the directors expect that the Group’s financial resources will be sufficient to support operations for at least the next three years. CEO Olav Hellebø said “Finally, as a result of the fundraising announced today, the business benefits from a very strong balance sheet, the backing of high calibre institutional investors and an experienced management team focused on the delivery of clinical data and associated value generation across all of the Company’s therapeutic programmes over the next three years. We continue to look forward to the future with high confidence.”

Savannah Petroleum Plc (SAVP.L) Announced the successful completion of the proposed placing, as announced yesterday, 9 July 2015. A total of 61,690,000 new ordinary shares of par value £0.001 each in the company have been placed at a price of 38p per placing share, raising gross proceeds of approximately $36 million. Of this total, 17,136,000 placing shares will be subscribed direct with the company. Mirabaud and Stifel are acting as Joint Bookrunners in respect of the placing. Strand Hanson is acting as Nominated Adviser. The placing shares being issued represent approximately 47% of the company’s existing issued ordinary share capital.

Smith & Nephew Plc (SN..L) Announced the acquisition of the trauma and orthopaedics business of DeOst LLC and DC LLC, a manufacturing company in the DeOst group. DeOst has distributed Smith & Nephew’s products in Russia since 2009. The acquisition brings us closer to our customers through well-established commercial channels, allowing us to better understand needs and offer a fuller range of products and services.

Spark Ventures Plc (SPK.L) Announced, in its preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2015, that revenue stood at £0.08 million, compared to £1.37 million in the same period last year. Loss after tax was £2.36 million, compared to a loss of £7.63 million.

Vast Resources Plc (VAST.L) Announced that the crushing circuit at the jointly owned Pickstone Peerless Gold Mine in Zimbabwe has been successfully commissioned.

W Resources Plc (WRES.L) Announced that it has completed the final stage of its infill diamond drilling programme at its La Parrilla Fast Track Mine (FTM) in Spain. As part of the 2015 development programme, the rig has now been moved to the highly prospective La Parrilla West with the objective of defining a second and potentially materially higher grade open pittable resource.

Zoltav Resources Incorporation (ZOL.L) Announced the appointment of Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (“Panmure Gordon”) as Joint Broker with immediate effect, while Shore Capital remains Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker to the company.

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