Is Marks & Spencer as bad as its share price suggests?

Is Marks & Spencer as bad as its share price fall suggests? No, say the analysts at Haitong Research though they admit that turning around a juggernaut like M&S (LON:MKS) will take time. The broker would have liked chief executive Steve Rowe to have wielded the axe even harder and closed more its of UK clothing space rather “10% over five years is not that much in the context of UK Clothing and Home sales densities in-store (excluding online) down 20-25% over the last five years - but we can see that there are reasons for management taking a less aggressive stance. “ We do think though that the company would have seen its plans better received if it had given a clearer analysis of its assumptions for market growth, online penetration etc., rather than relying on the “Trust Us, We Know What We Are Doing” approach evident. Haitong is a buyer even so with a 375p fair value estimate. Housebuilder Redrow (LON:RDW) has 40% upside according to Peel Hunt, which has upgraded it forecast after a strong selling season this autumn. The broker now expects profits this year of £280mln and has upgraded its forecast by 3% for the following two years. Shares are trading on 20% discount on a price to asset value basis, which is good value and the price target of price target of 555p implies over 40% upside. Macquarie has turned more bullish on contactor Amec Foster Wheeler (LON:AMFW) with an upgrade to 'Neutral'. The broker has been a seller ut said the the stock has now sufficiently de-rated following last month's disappointing trading update. Cantor Fitzgerald notes that Following the successful completion of the Lancaster 7 wells, Hurricane Energy PLC (LON: HUR) has announced the spudding of its first Lincoln well. This is a material prospect for the company with the last CPR estimating a prospective resource base of 150MMbbls, which could be as high as 250MMbbls assuming the Lincoln prospect is analogous to the Lancaster field. The presence of oil at 2,135m TVDSS indicates a continuous oil column to this depth and therefore the company can take sufficient comfort in this higher estimate. Buy with a 69p target. UBS is a buyer of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LON:RDSB) with a 2,250p) following its New York Investor Day. Shell is still targeting US$20-25bn of organic free cash flow (US$20-30bn disposals) and 10% return on capital by the end of the decade in a $60/bbl oil price scenario, which would more than cover the $16bn all-cash dividend.