Best of the Brokers
DRAX
Credit Suisse has upgraded the power station operator from “underperform” to “neutral” and upped the company’s share price target to 475p, saying its recent price drop has improved the value of the UK’s worst-performing utility stock. “We think we are getting close to tight reserve margins, hence higher power prices in the UK, and we no longer want to short the stock here,” Credit Suisse said.
HARGREAVES SERVICES
Westhouse Securities has lowered their price target on the mining group to 660p from 893p reflecting uncertainty over the shares following Hargreaves’s results on Tuesday, in which the firm announced it had discovered gas leaks at the Maltby Colliery coal mine. However, Westhouse said it remained a buyer of Hargreaves, adding that the leak will allow greater focus on stronger growth areas at the firm.
WPP
Investec has upgraded the advertising giant back to “buy” from “hold” and raised the target price by 100p to 950p. “WPP is now the only large cap agency play for UK investors, so by default becomes even more important and attractive post [the sale of Aegis to Dentsu],” Investec said, adding that while WPP’s growth in the second and third quarter of the year had been disappointing, it was still growth.