BEST OF THE BROKERS
BARCLAYS
Shore Capital has upgraded the bank from “sell” to “hold” with a target price of 240p following its full-year 2011 results, saying the company has made better progress than expected in rebuilding its core tier 1 ratio. The broker is also more positive due to the ECB’s intervention into bank funding markets, which it says has improved market sentiment on risk assets. Shore does not see the current value of the shares as stretched given the reduction in tail risk.
BUNZL
JP Morgan has upgraded the distribution group from “neutral” to “overweight” and increased its target price on the stock from 835p to 985p, ahead of full-year results from the company on 27 February. The broker points out that Bunzl’s share price often drifts between results, but tends to perform strongly after full and half-year reports, and it sees the stock’s recent relative underperformance as a good entry point before the results are released.
GULF KEYSTONE PETROLEUM
Seymour Pierce has upgraded its target price on the Kurdistan-focused oil explorer from 374p to 524p, and maintained its “buy” rating on the stock. The broker suggests profit taking ahead of upcoming well results to mitigate against the risk of a poor outcome, but has moved to its best case scenario for the company after reviewing its 2C resources. The next major driver will be a result from the Ber Bahr-1 well, expected in early March.