City brokers are somewhat split on Aggreko (LON:AGK) with Credit Suisse upgraded the generator firm to ‘neutral’ from ‘underperform’ whilst both RBC and Berenberg have downgrades.
Aggreko’s new boss Chris Weston, who joined in January, has had a pragmatic response to changing markets, according to Credit Suisse analyst Karl Green, who said the share now had a less demanding valuation and more realistic earnings estimates.
RBC cuts Aggreko to ‘sector perform’ from ‘outperform’, Berenberg’s moves to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’ and elsewhere Deutsche Bank is sticking to ‘hold’.
Berenberg’s Kai Klose says the turnaround has been costly for Aggreko, yet he also believes the challenges appear to be intensifying.
“The cost savings programme is a step in the right direction, but it is not enough, in our view, to protect returns,” Klose said in a note.
“Given the declining returns profile combined with the significantly diminished chances of shareholder returns, we downgrade to Sell.”
Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) was upgraded to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’ by Macquarie, which has a 3,300p price target; current price 2,614p.
Deutsche Bank, meanwhile, increases its price target to 3,800p from 3,600p, and repeated a ‘buy’ recommendation.
Soft drinks group Britvic (LON:BVIC) was upgraded to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’, with a target set at 800p.