Chariot Oil & Gas Limited (LON:CHAR) got a boost from Beaufort Securities after doing a farm-out deal in Morocco.
Beaufort upgraded the oil explorer, which has licences on blocks in Namibia, Mauritania, Morocco and the Barreirinhas Basin off the coast of Brazil. to a 'speculative buy'.
Chariot said on Wednesday that Italian oil major Eni had agreed to buy a 40% stake in the Rabat deep offshore exploration permits I-VI in return for a capped carry on drilling the JP-1 prospect.
Another broker, Peel Hunt, which also has a 'buy' on the stock, said in a note that the move was "significantly positive" for Chariot.
Peel Hunt said: "During what continues to be a very difficult period for the oil industry, Chariot has achieved what the market had decided was not possible, that is to introduce a leading integrated oil company as a partner in its Rabat deep offshore exploration permits."
Peel Hunt and Numis Securities also upgraded Hilton Food Group PLC (LON:HFG) to 'buy' after the company reported an 11% rise in pre-tax profits to £28mln in the 53 weeks to January 3.
It increased volumes by 5.5% during the year, with growth in the UK, Ireland and Holland for UK and Dutch supermarket groups Tesco and Albert Heijn.
But continuing pressure on consumer spending in Denmark partly offset particularly strong Christmas trading.
Numis described the results as superb, saying pre-tax profits in 2015 surpassed market expectations, albeit aided by the one-off items flagged in January.
"With the extra Tesco business set to enjoy its first full year at 'full bore', start-up costs set to decline and the joint venture's new Melbourne plant performing well, the omens are highly favourable for 2016," the broker said in a note.
Peel Hunt downgraded construction equipment rental group Speedy Hire PLC (LON:SDY) to 'reduce' after the construction equipment rental group said in a trading update that it expected full-year adjusted pre-tax profit to match market expectations, with net debt broadly in line with the previous year.
But Speedy said it was writing off about £45mln of acquired goodwill on the balance sheet (c.£45m) as a non-cash exceptional item.
Panmure Gordon was more upbeat, saying: "Whilst the absolute level of profitability is materially down on FY15 (£4.7mln versus £21.9mln), it will be seen as an important line in the sand for investors.
"With the shares trading on a price to book of 1x, we believe Speedy Hire offers an attractive entry point."
Panmure Gordon upgraded Premier Inn and Costa Coffee owner Whitbread PLC (LON:WTB) to 'hold', saying the step-up in international hotel M&A and rejuvenated speculation surrounding a spin-off of Costa Coffee was now limiting the valuation downside.
But Jefferies International downgraded bookie William Hill PLC (LON:WMH) to 'underperform', saying it believed the fall in the group's share price since last week’s trading update doesn’t fully reflect the impact of customer self-exclusions/timeouts (which we believe could accelerate) and strategic issues identified in the online division.
"Any benefits from Project Trafalgar are now overshadowed by more immediate concerns, and we continue to be cautious on the regulatory environment. Downgrade toUnderperform with 280p price target," the broker said.