After much anticipation, Legal & General Group PLC's (LSE:LGEN) Capital Markets Day was a bit of a damp squib and ended up tempering expectations, according to Deutsche Bank.
“However, despite 6% cuts to our EPS forecasts and an 8% reduction in our target price, we retain our ‘buy’", said the German bank.
RBC Capital believes that a takeover of Crest Nicholson PLC (LSE:CRST) by Bellway PLC (LSE:BWY) makes strategic sense for the latter, particularly if the acquisition price is below one times Crest's book value or 300 pence per share.
Such a deal could enhance Bellway's earnings and generate a return on invested capital exceeding current consensus estimates.
RBC Capital believes that a sale to rival Bellway PLC (LSE:BWY) offers a less risky and smoother path for investors in builder Crest Nicholson PLC (LSE:CRST) and suggests that if Bellway returns with a third offer, shareholders should seriously consider it.
This comes after Crest Nicholson rejected two takeover bids from Bellway, which offered significant premia over the current share price.
Shares in Ashtead Group PLC (LSE:AHT) fell almost 4% on the back of fourth-quarter results that mostly hit the mark, though the outlook for the new year was not as good as expected.
The results are "broadly in line with consensus", said analyst Edward Prest at Liberum.
Whitbread PLC (LSE:WTB) is still topping the FTSE 100 leaderboard, with its shares up 3%.
Barclays analyst Vicki Stern says she thinks the first-quarter numbers are "no major event today", adding that they were "largely in line with expectations".
British Airways owner IInternational Consolidated Airlines Group SA (LSE:IAG) shares rose 1.5% after it was suggested it could launch a buyback later this year to support a "modest dividend", by analysts at RBC.
After a meeting with the airline group's chief finance officer, RBC was reassured that full-year underlying earnings estimates of €3.6 billion were in line with trading, which was said to be "positive overall".
Jefferies has reiterated a 'buy' rating on Flutter Entertainment PLC (LSE:FLTR), setting a price target of 22,000p.
Despite increased gaming taxes in Illinois potentially impacting earnings, the American investment bank is optimistic about the gaming group's prospects, especially its strong US market presence through FanDuel.
BP PLC's (LSE:BP.) American shale business will be a large part of the group’s growth over the remainder of the decade, analysts at RBC today highlighted in a note.
RBC, which rates BP at ‘outperform’, believes that the oil majors investment plans are shifting away from ‘transition growth engines’ (effectively a pseudonym for ‘net zero’ projects) in favour of upstream business, albeit, RBC notes that this has yet to be formalised as a strategy by BP.