Utility stocks have attracted plenty of comment from City analysts today.
The team at UBS has rejigged some ratings and price targets in the sector with National Grid upgraded to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral, SSE PLC (LSE:SSE) (SSE PLC (LSE:SSE)) downgraded to ‘neutral’ from ‘sell’ with British Gas owner, Centrica, kept as ‘neutral’ with an increased price target of 165p, up from 145p.
Deutsche Bank has positively adjusted its target price for TUI AG (LSE:TUI) following the publication of the travel company's fiscal year 2023 results.
TUI’s results highlight a robust and positive operating trend within the company.
Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LSE:RR.)’s share price has risen once again after Citi became the latest broker to sing the praises of the FTSE 100-listed engineering group.
The broker has increased its price target to 431p from 294p in further reflection after the recent Capital Markets Day.
Faron Pharma’s latest results from the BEXMAB trial in aggressive myeloid leukaemias (a rare blood cancer) showed more promising results, according to broker Peel Hunt.
Responses were noted in the two groups where previous treatments had failed, with seven out of ten of these seeing a complete response/marrow response.
Reabold Resources upping its stake in LNEnergy to 26.1% boosts its exposure to another large ‘development ready’ gas asset alongside West Newton in the UK, further diversifying portfolio risk says broker Cavendish.
LNEnergy's main asset is a US$11m option over a 90% interest in the Colle Santo gas field in Italy.
MP Evans has seen forecasts for the next two years tweaked by Cavendish following the acquisition of two land packages in East Kalimantan.
Longer term the move should be beneficial, says the house broker, as free cash flow and profits accelerate over the next five years driven by scale benefits and better management of the maturing plantations.
Gold and silver prospects for 2024 have improved sufficiently for the analysts at Deutsche Bank to increase their price targets for both metals.
Gold gets a nudge up on the basis that the US Federal Reserve starts its easing cycle in the middle of the year and buying of the metal by central banks continues.
British pawnbroker H&T Group PLC (AIM:HAT) will face pressure on its operating costs when the National Living Wage goes up next April but increased funding capacity and higher-than-expected book growth will offset this, according to equities analysts at Shore Capital Markets.
H&T’s additional £10 million funding facility announced in November “suggests to us that management is confident in the outlook for pledge book growth over the medium-term”, said Shore Cap.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) could become the world’s first company to reach a market capitalisation of US$4 trillion by late next year, according to analysts.
Expectations of resilient demand in America and China, as hundreds of millions of iPhones are upgraded, should buoy the stock, Wedbush analysts said.