US heavyweight Citi is downbeat on another broker today - Britain's biggest in fact, Hargreaves Lansdown plc (LON:HRGV), and repeats a 'sell' rating on the shares.
The group reports its full year numbers next Wednesday and Citi forecasts £62.5bn assets under administration, including £59.4bn Vantage assets, and £225.8mln in pre-tax profit.
Its forecasts for EPS (earnings per share) are 5% and 7% below consensus for 2017 and 2018 respectively, and since the end 2015, the broker has cut them by 18% and 23% as the UK Bank base rate and cash yield expectations have fallen, and the launch date of savings initiatives has moved back.
"We see both earnings downgrade and derating risk from here, and little prospect of HL’s cash savings initiatives generating significant upside soon," said analyst Haley Tam.
South- African gold miner Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) gets a look from City firm Canaccord today, which upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'hold'. The target price is 8590p - a good distance from the current price of 7,160p.
In early August, the firm reported second-quarter profit from mining was flat, as higher gold prices were offset by lower production and higher costs.
Meanwhile, consumer goods giant and investor favourite Unilever (LON:ULVR) was under the radar of Citi today, and upgraded to 'buy' from ' neutral'.
In smaller caps, gene editing specialist Horizon Discovery Group PLC (LON:HZD) reported a co-development and commercialisation agreement with Ventana Medical Systems - an arm of the drugs major Roche.
The tie-up covers the development, manufacture and commercialisation of cell line derivative materials for use as immunohistochemistry (IHC) reference standards in cancer tissue diagnostics.
Broker Panmure's biotech specialist Dr Mike Mitchell said the news continued to build on what investors have been hearing from the company over the past six months or so.
"It doesn’t significantly suddenly change anything but it...further underpins the investment case."
Mitchell adds that by putting Roche's name to the deal, it adds "credence" to Horizon's strategic vision in the immunohistochemistry area.