BEST OF THE BROKERS
IMPERIAL TOBACCO
JP Morgan Cazenove rates the tobacco firm “overweight” and has introduced a target price of £31.27. The broker thinks the tobacco sector as a whole could be in for a rough start to the year, as reluctant investors stay away from the sector. But it points to a strong 2011, where even weaker performers in the sector gave a capital return of 20 per cent.
INVENSYS
Citigroup rates the engineering and software group “buy” with a target price of 235p. The firm’s profit warning last week has had only a limited impact on Citi’s positive view, and the broker still expects to see strong earnings per share after 2012. Citi still reckons positive news in the rail sector can only help Invensys shares. However, it has cut its earnings per share forecasts for this year after the firm’s warning of £60m extra costs.
DERWENT LONDON
UBS has lowered its rating of the property group from “buy” to “neutral” and cut its target price from £18 to £17. UBS forecasts lower growth in the London office market this year, and now thinks Derwent’s office values will grow five per cent in 2012 – cutting its net asset value by 3.5 per cent and earnings per share by two per cent. However, UBS remains positive on the London market in the medium term.