Attractions and park operator Merlin Entertainments' (LON:MERL) share price is now at an attractive level, says Swiss broker UBS, which has upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'neutral'.
In a note entitled 'Beat the queues' the broker, which initiated coverage in July, said it likes the firm's unique portfolio of brands, attractive market trends, diverse business model, and high barriers to entry, all of which are underpinned by an experienced management team.
The price target has also been lifted to 450p from 440p.
Merlin warned in July that profits this year will be up to £47mln lower than expected due to the crash on the Smiler roller-coaster at Alton Towers in June, which left five people seriously injured and shut the theme park for five days.
"The profit warning on 27th July was based on the assumption that there is no recovery in demand at Alton Towers over the entire summer period. We think this is conservative but believe the key question now is to what extent trading will recover in 2016.
"We estimate the current share price implies no recovery whatsoever in the RTP division in 2016," said UBS, which it says it views as too pessimistic.
Bikes and car parts giant Halfords (LON:HFD) is the subject of a note from Cantor on Wednesday and does not get a gear change.
The broker repeats a 'hold' stance following the group's second quarter trading update for the eight weeks to August 28, which came in below the broker's expectations but said pre-tax profit for the year is expected to be in line with market consensus.
"Halfords is still gaining share in the £1bn cycling market (20.3%) and is selling more premium bikes due to the trend of men and women taking up competitive road and endurance cycling, said Cantor, which targets 565p a share (current price 510p).
AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) gets a leg up from HSBC today, which moves the stock to 'buy' from 'hold'. The price target is 4600p.
It comes after news yesterday, that the drugs giant has granted rights to Valeant (TSE:VRX, NYSE:VRX) to develop and commercialise brodalumab, an experimental treatment for the skin condition psoriasis.
Canadian firm Valeant will make an up-front payment to AstraZeneca of US$100 million, as well as additional pre-launch milestones of up to US$170 million and further sales related milestone payments of up to US$175 million following launch. Should the drug make it to market, AstraZeneca and Valeant will share profits.
High Street discounter and much in the media Poundland (LON:PLND) is branching out online, notes US firm Jefferies, which rates the share 'buy', adding that the reason for the rating is the deal with 99p stores and not the web venture.
"With a £4 flat delivery charge for a 4-5 day delivery offer we expect online sales will be small for Poundland," says analyst Caroline Gulliver.
"we believe a successful conclusion to the 99p stores saga could see Poundland's share price rise further and for that reason we recommend buying..."
Also in brokerland today, Deutsche has dropped the price target on mining titan BHP Billiton (LON:BLT), to 1360p from 1440p. The rating is 'hold'.
JP Morgan Cazenove has dropped the target on both Morrison's (LON:MRW) and Sainsbury's (LON:SBRY) to 200p from 225p.