BEST OF THE BROKERS
WILLIAM HILL
Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoAML) has upgraded William Hill to a “buy” rating and said it believes that the stock is high quality and at good value. Strong trends online and improvement in machines are key catalysts for 2010, according to BoAML, which said that execution risk is believed to be low.
HAYS
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has given Hays a “buy” rating and said that net fee growth was better than expected. RBS said that although upward pressure is building on the 2011 forecasts, it remains unchanged at this early stage of the year. RBS said the strong balance sheet augurs well for dividend payout.
UNILEVER
JP Morgan Cazenove has rated Unilever as “overweight” and said that while it thinks the market has started to believe in the food group’s top line revival, the margin story resulting from better volume, mix and cost initiatives remains largely misjudged. JP Morgan said fears of tougher second half were overdone.