Broker Upgrades and Downgrades & Key UK Corporate Snapshots 15 January 2016

UK Broker Upgrades / Downgrades

 

 

Code Company Broker Recomm. From Recomm. To Price From Price To
Upgrades
BEZ Beazley Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight Overweight 410 435
CRDA Croda International Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral Overweight 2800 3200
DTY Dignity Plc Berenberg Hold Hold 2260 2330
GRG Greggs Plc Berenberg Sell Sell 920 925
HSX Hiscox Ltd JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight Overweight 1100 1150
HTG Hunting Plc Macquarie Neutral Outperform
JMAT Johnson Matthey Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral Neutral 2650 2750
LOOK Lookers Plc Berenberg Buy Buy 175 220
SAFE Safestore Holdings Plc Berenberg Buy Buy 360 405
SYNT Synthomer Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral Neutral 280 285
VOD Vodafone Group Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight Overweight 265 275
WG. John Wood Group Plc Macquarie Underperform Neutral
WMH William Hill Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy 420 445
Downgrades
ASHM Ashmore Group Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Underweight Underweight 215 205
DNLM Dunelm Group Plc Canaccord Genuity Buy Hold
JUP Jupiter Fund Management Plc Citigroup Neutral Sell
RCDO Ricardo Plc Berenberg Buy Hold 935 910
RTN Restaurant Group Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight Neutral 815 710
RTN Restaurant Group Plc Berenberg Buy Buy 800 750
TPT Topps Tiles Plc Berenberg Hold Hold 175 155
WOS Wolseley Plc Exane BNP Paribas Neutral Underperform
Initiate/Neutral/Unchanged
AAL Anglo American Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold 300 300
ABF Associated British Foods Plc Barclays Capital Overweight Overweight 3300 3300
ABF Associated British Foods Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight Overweight 3700 3700
AML Amlin Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral Neutral 670 670
ANTO Antofagasta Plc Credit Suisse Underperform Underperform 400 400
ASC ASOS Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy 4000 4000
ASC ASOS Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight Overweight 4000 4000
BATS British American Tobacco Plc Credit Suisse Outperform Outperform
BDEV Barratt Developments Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy
BME B&M European Value Retail Deutsche Bank Buy Buy 350 350
BRBY Burberry Group Plc Deutsche Bank Hold Hold 1350 1350
BRBY Burberry Group Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral Neutral 1300 1300
CCH Coca-Cola HBC AG Credit Suisse Neutral Neutral
DGE Diageo Plc Credit Suisse Outperform Outperform 2100 2100
GLEN Glencore Plc Credit Suisse Outperform Outperform 130 130
IMT Imperial Tobacco Group Plc Credit Suisse Outperform Outperform
IRV Interserve Plc Berenberg Buy Buy 730 730
JUP Jupiter Fund Management Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral Neutral 465 465
LRE Lancashire Holdings Ltd JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral Neutral 630 630
MTC Mothercare Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Overweight Overweight 300 300
PRU Prudential Plc Macquarie Outperform 1536
RB. Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc Credit Suisse Outperform Outperform
SBRY J Sainsbury Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Underweight Underweight 200 200
TPK Travis Perkins Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy
TSCO Tesco Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy 200 200
TSCO Tesco Plc JP Morgan Cazenove Underweight Underweight
TW. Taylor Wimpey Plc Deutsche Bank Buy Buy

 

US Broker Upgrades / Downgrades

 

 

Code Company Broker Recomm. From Recomm. To Price From Price To
Upgrades
AEM Agnico Eagle Mines Barclays Equal weight Overweight $32 $36
BA Boeing Standpoint Research Hold Buy $155 $155
BEP Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners Desjardins Hold Buy
CMG Chipotle Mexican Grill Credit Agricole Outperform Buy $536 $536
CSBK Clifton Bancorp Compass Point Neutral Buy $16 $16
FNV Franco-Nevada Barclays Underweight Equal weight $47 $50
FRO Frontline Nordea Hold Buy
GT Goodyear Tire & Rubber Standpoint Research Hold Buy $34 $34
INFY Infosys Credit Suisse Neutral Outperform
WDGJF John Wood Group Investec Sell Hold
MET MetLife Macquarie Neutral Outperform
AMKBY AP Moeller – Maersk Nordea Hold Buy
RTEC Rudolph Technologies Stifel Hold Buy $15 $15
SIMO Silicon Motion Technology Standpoint Research Hold Buy $35 $35
SCBFF Standard Chartered Berenberg Hold Buy
TRGP Targa Resources Jefferies Hold Buy
NGLS Targa Resources Partners Jefferies Hold Buy
USB US Bancorp Robert W. Baird Neutral Outperform $45 $45
MTN Vail Resorts MKM Partners Neutral Buy $125 $135
Downgrades
AA Alcoa Argus Buy Hold
ATML Atmel Raymond James Strong Buy Market Perform
BWA BorgWarner Credit Agricole Buy Underperform
DFS Discover Financial Services JP Morgan Overweight Neutral $60 $56
ESYJY easyJet Morgan Stanley Overweight Equal weight
STAY Extended Stay America MKM Partners Buy Neutral $24 $16
FFIV F5 Networks Barclays Equal weight Underweight $123 $98
HBM HudBay Minerals Barclays Overweight Underweight $10 $4
HCMLY LafargeHolcim JP Morgan Overweight Neutral
MAR Marriott International MKM Partners Buy Neutral $100 $61
NVDA NVIDIA Barclays Equal weight Underweight $23 $25
SVU SUPERVALU Telsey Advisory Group Outperform Market Perform $10 $6
SVU SUPERVALU Deutsche Bank Buy Hold $8 $6
TNDM Tandem Diabetes Care BofA Merrill Lynch Buy Neutral
TEDU Tarena International Credit Suisse Outperform Neutral
TEL TE Connectivity Longbow Buy Neutral
TCK Teck Resources Barclays Equal weight Underweight $11 $4
TGA TransGlobe Energy CIBC Sector Perform Sector Underperform
UBNT Ubiquiti Networks Bernstein Outperform Market Perform
WIMHY William Hill Numis Buy Add
YELP Yelp B. Riley & Co. Neutral Sell
Initiated
ATU Actuant Avondale Market Perform
ADBE Adobe Systems Dougherty & Company Buy $114
AFSI AmTrust Financial Services Citigroup Buy
AVGO Avago Technologies Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey Buy
CELG Celgene Standpoint Research Buy $130
CNK Cinemark Holdings Drexel Hamilton Buy
CY Cypress Semiconductor Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey Neutral
DRNE Drone Aviation Holding Dougherty & Company Neutral
FDC First Data Stifel Buy $18
INTC Intel Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey Neutral
MSCC Microsemi Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey Buy
NFLX Netflix Drexel Hamilton Buy $150
RGC Regal Entertainment Group Drexel Hamilton Buy $21
SAVE Spirit Airlines JP Morgan Overweight $52
STRZA Starz Drexel Hamilton Hold $34
SBBX Sussex Bancorp Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Outperform
TWX Time Warner Drexel Hamilton Buy $79
VA Virgin America JP Morgan Underweight
DIS Walt Disney Drexel Hamilton Buy $117
XTLY Xactly Dougherty & Company Buy $14

 

Key UK Corporate Snapshots Today

3i Infrastructure Plc (3IN.L) Announced that the interests of the shareholders of Lakeside Network Investments S.a r.l. and its associated subsidiaries in the Elenia Group is under strategic review. The company is an investor in the Elenia Group.

7digital Group Plc (7DIG.L) Announced the appointment of Paul McGowan as a non-executive director of the company.

Alexander Mining Plc (AXM.L) Announced that it has received notification that its MetaLeach Limited subsidiary has now been granted a patent in Peru for a Method for Extracting Zinc from Aqueous Ammoniacal Solutions. The patent, number 7520, has a standard term of 20 years from the effective date of 22 December 2009 (being the date of original filing of the PCT Application from which the Peru patent is derived). he patent, which has also been granted in the USA, Canada, Australia and Mexico (as announced on 1 August 2013, 18 March 2014, 10 September 2012 and 8 April 2013, respectively), describes a method for extracting zinc from an aqueous ammoniacal zinc solution containing impurities.

Allied Minds Plc (ALM.L) Announced that Jill Smith, Former Chairman, CEO and President of DigitalGlobe Inc, today joins the Board of Directors as an Independent Non-Executive Director, bringing a wealth of expertise to help oversee the company’s growing portfolio of life-science and technology companies as they commercialize innovations from top U.S. universities and federal research institutions.

Aquatic Foods Group Plc (AFG.L) Announced that Jonathan Quirk, Non-Executive Director of the company, purchased 25,000 ordinary shares in the company at 22.50p per share on 14 January 2016. Following this purchase, Jonathan Quirk holds a total of 75,000 ordinary shares, representing approximately 0.07% of the issued share capital of the company.

Atalaya Mining Plc (ATYM.L) Announced that its mine at the Phase I of the Riotinto Project will enter into production stage from 01 February 2015 as it has completed the commissioning successfully. The teams on site will continuously focus on the optimisation of operating results whilst the expansion projects are under construction. In an effort to maximize synergies between the Phase I expansion project to 7.5 Mtpa and Phase II expansion project to 9.5 Mtpa, the company decided to consolidate both expansion projects into a single project. Engineering of the expansion project has been completed 100% while the procurement is 92% complete. It will put in efforts on site construction activities which is only 42% complete.

Barr(A.G.) Plc (BAG.L) Announced that it will provide a trading update for the period ended Saturday, 30 January 2016 on Friday, 29 January 2016.

Beowulf Mining Plc (BEM.L) Announced that it has posted today a notice of general meeting of the company, Chairman’s Letter and Form of Proxy to shareholders. These documents can be found in the Investor section of the Company’s website: www.beowulfmining.com. The general meeting will be held at the offices of One Advisory Group, 201 Temple Chambers, 3-7 Temple Avenue, London EC4Y 0DT on 5 February 2016 at 11.00 a.m. (London time).

BHP Billiton Plc (BLT.L) Announced that it expects to recognise an impairment charge of approximately $4.9 billion post-tax against the carrying value of its Onshore US assets. This charge will be recognised as an exceptional item in the financial results for the half year ended 31 December 2015. The impairment follows the bi-annual review of the company’s asset values and reflects changes to price assumptions, discount rates and development plans which have more than offset substantial productivity improvements. The impairment will reduce Onshore US net operating assets to approximately $16.0 billion.

BMR Mining Plc (BMR.L) Announced an open offer to raise up to approximately £750,000 before expenses (the “Open Offer”). A circular containing details of the Open Offer (the “Circular”), together with a covering letter from the BMR Chairman, the associated application form, the notice of annual general meeting and associated proxy, have today been posted to shareholders, and will shortly be made available on the Company’s website: www.bmrplc.com. Following the placing announced on 28 October 2015, the Company also committed to make a similar amount of new Ordinary Shares available to Shareholders on the same terms, including as to Warrants, in the near future. The Board has resolved to make an Open Offer of up to 25,119,242 New Ordinary Shares at 3p each to raise up to approximately £750,000 before expenses. For each New Ordinary Share subscribed, Qualifying Shareholders will also receive one Warrant to subscribe for a further new Ordinary Share at the Warrant Exercise Price of 7p per share.

Bonmarche Holdings Plc (BON.L) Announced, in its trading update for the 13 week and 39 week periods ended Saturday 26 December 2015, that sales for the quarter ended 26 December 2015 increased by 3.4%, and store LFL sales declined by 1.3%. Sales for the 39 weeks ended 26 December 2015 increased by 5.3% and store LFL sales increased by 0.8. The Company’s financial position remains sound and the Board’s expectations for the full year are in line with the guidance issued on 16 December 2015.

Bovis Homes Group Plc (BVS.L) Announced in its trading update that it expects a significant increase in revenue and profit before tax driven by a record number of legal completions and a strong increase in average sales price. The Group has also continued to operate successfully in a benign land market with strong acquisitions in the year and further progress made with our strategic land assets. During 2015, the Group traded on an average of 102 sales outlets, an increase of 6% over the prior year, and achieved a 10% increase in the number of private reservations (excluding PRS) compared with 2014. The Group closed the year trading on 101 sales outlets. Furthermore, in 2015, the Group has continued to deliver its growth strategy and improve shareholder returns

CloudTag Incorporation (CTAG.L) Announced in its operational update that launching the Cloudtag Track at CES has enabled the progression of existing relationships with potential customers and the creation of new opportunities for commercialisation. These include discussions with some of the world’s largest consumer technology manufacturers, one of Europe’s leading sporting goods distributors and two of North America’s largest department stores and retail groups. Furthermore, B2B opportunities with insurance providers and mobile phone operators have been generated. The Directors of the company are confident that several of these opportunities will lead to commercial arrangements and look forward to updating the market in due course as discussions progress further. The Company completed the development of its wearable product in November 2015, including the product design and electronics of the CloudTag Track and the beatSMART clip. Fully functional devices with the embedded algorithms measuring the full ECG, calculating energy expenditure and automatically identifying the various activity types were integrated with the mobile application and the Cloud architecture. Meanwhile, production tooling has been setup and the production run of devices for the product launch were received by the Company in November 2015. The Company is now focussed on increasing the Far East production with commercial quantities of devices in Q2 2016 so that they are ready for delivery pending orders being received from retailers, distributors and other partners. On 24 December 2015, the Company filed a number of UK patent applications covering the proprietary in-house designed sensors, signal processing algorithms, sensors utilising natural and man-made materials, innovative mechanical body attachments and the product system architecture. It also reported that it has signed a £1.25 million unsecured convertible loan facility with Hector Limited (“Lender”), a private equity company specialising in hi-tech SME’s (the “Facility”). Funds drawn down from the Facility will be used for purchase order funding with manufacturers and B2B partnerships in 2016 and for general working capital purposes.

Cobham Plc (COB.L) Announced, that it has completed the divestment of its Surveillance business, part of Cobham’s Communications and Connectivity Sector, to an affiliate of Marlin Equity Partners for US$ 10million cash.

Curtis Banks Group Plc (CBP.L) Announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Suffolk Life Group Limited (“SLG”), and its subsidiaries (together being “Suffolk Life”), from Legal & General Group plc for consideration of £45 million. The acquisition is to be funded by the combination of an underwritten placing of 8,437,500 new ordinary shares of 0.5p each in Curtis Banks at a placing price of 320p per Placing Share to raise £27 million and a new debt and revolving credit facility.

Dialight Plc (DIA.L) Announced, in its trading update, that although its revenue growth in the year was impacted by weakness in the oil & gas sector and reduced levels of industrial capital expenditure, particularly in North America, the board expects to report underlying operating profit in line with consensus market estimates for the year ended 31 December 2015.

EG Solutions Plc (EGS.L) Announced, in its trading update for the year ending 31 January 2016, that the board expects the results to be in line with current market expectations i.e. around the breakeven level. However, it expects to achieve lower than expected revenues. It expects the second half turnover to increase by 13% to £4.0 million (2015: £3.55 million) and the full year sales to be approximately £7.6 million (2015: £7.54 million). The company returned to profit in the second half of the year as its costs were broadly in line with the first six months while the sales improved above the expected levels. Expected cash at the end of the year is approximately £3 million.

Entertainment One Ltd (ETO.L) Announced that Scott Lawrence has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the company and will join the board with effect from 14 January 2016.

European Metals Holdings Limited (EMH.L) Announced that four core holes totalling 1655.3m were completed at the Cinovec Lithium-Tin-Tungsten Project in the Czech Republic by the end of 2015. In addition, the results for second completed hole PSn05 have been received. Drillhole PSn05 returned intercepts of 29.5m @ 0.25% Li2O from 83.5m to 113m and 152.2m @ 0.47% Li2O from 229.9m to end of hole at 382.1 m. The mineralized intercept includes a high grade interval of 14m averaging 1.08% Li2O, from 276m to 290m depth. In addition, the lithium intercept contains zones enriched in Sn and W, i.e. 4m@0.39%Sn (248m to 252m), 3m@0.26%Sn, and 5m@0.09%W. PSn05 is an infill hole and the analytical results are in line with the company’s expected grade and width of the mineralized intercepts.

Experian plc (EXPN.L) Announced in its trading update for the three months to 31 December 2015, that total growth was 6% at constant exchange rates and organic revenue was also up 6%. At actual exchange rates, total revenue from continuing activities was down 3%. Further, Credit Services and Decision Analytics delivered organic revenue growth of 8%. Organic revenue growth in Marketing Services was 2% and Consumer Services returned to growth, with organic revenue up 2%.

Finsbury Food Group Plc (FIF.L) Announced, in its pre-close trading statement, that strong trading performance has continued throughout the Christmas period. Total Company sales revenues grew to £156.6 million, an increase of 46% on prior year. Like for like sales rose 7.4% over the first half. The Group continues to invest in the business through both capital expenditure and investment in its people, to ensure that it is well equipped to deliver growth and improved shareholder value over the coming years.

Forbidden Technologies Plc (FBT.L) Announced that two new ABC network affiliates will be adopting Forscene (the company is owner and developer of the market leading cloud video platform) through long-term company partner Field59, a premier online video management system for live streaming, video-on-demand and over-the-top content. Through moving onto the video platform provided by Field59, WWAY TV NewsChannel 3, the news, weather and sports television station for south-eastern North Carolina owned by Morris Multimedia, and WWSB TV ABC 7, the ABC news leader for the Suncoast owned by Calkins Media, will both make use of Forscene for a 24-month period.

Hutchison China Meditech Limited (HCM.L) Announced that it has initiated a Phase I trial in Australia in patients with haematological malignancies. HMPL‑523 is a novel, highly selective and potent small molecule oral inhibitor targeting spleen tyrosine kinase, also known as Syk, a key component in B-cell receptor signalling. Preparations and site selection began in late 2015 and the first patient was dosed on 13 January 2016. This trial follows the successful completion of a first-in-human Phase I clinical trial in healthy volunteers in October 2015. The successful completion of the first-in-human study in healthy volunteers in 2015 has established the safety profile of HMPL‑523. HMP now hopes that this Phase I study in haematological malignancies could provide clinical proof-of-concept that modulation of the B-cell signalling pathway through inhibition of Syk will provide patients with a clinical benefit.

IG Group Holdings Plc (IGG.L) Announced that it has appointed Mark Ward as Interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Mark is a senior partner at accounting firm Deloitte LLP, and for the last three years he has led Deloitte’s Investment Management and Wealth sector.

Intu Properties Plc (INTU.L) Announced that that it intends to release its Annual Results for the year ended 31 December 2015 on Friday, 26 February 2016.

Legal & General Group Plc (LGEN.L) Announced the sale of Suffolk Life, one of the UK’s leading providers and administrators of SIPPs, to Curtis Banks Group plc for £45.0 million. The acquisition is subject to an underwritten placing by Curtis Banks Group plc, and regulatory approval, both of which are expected in the first half of 2016.

Moneysupermarket.com Group Plc (MONY.L) Announced, in its trading update that it expects to deliver strong full year results with revenues expected to grow by 14% to £282 million, and adjusted operating profit to grow by approximately 13% to around £99 million. On the outlook front, the group is well placed to make further progress in 2016 through its diversified business.

MySQUAR Limited (MYSQ.L) Announced that Google, the company to join the discussion panel at an event being held in March for Google’s largest partners in South East Asia. The audience of about 150 will be made up of leaders of key web and app businesses in the region, who will also have the opportunity to network and discuss the successes they are experiencing. The event will take place in Singapore on 22 March 2016. The company will be represented by Nicolas Embleton, Director of Product Development, Monetization

Oxford Instruments Plc (OXIG.L) Announced that it will release a Trading Update on Friday 22 January 2015 at 07:00 GMT.

Premaitha Health Plc (NIPT.L) Announced that the company welcomes the UK National Screening Committee’s (NSC) recommendation to routinely offer NIPT testing on the NHS to high risk pregnant women as part of the standard fetal anomaly screening programme. The recommendation states that the UK National Health Service (NHS) should offer NIPT to high risk pregnant women (those with a 1:150 chance of having a pregnancy affected by Down’s syndrome) to significantly reduce invasive testing such as amniocentesis, which carries a small miscarriage risk.

Quartix Holdings Plc (QTX.L) Announced, that it will publish results for the year ended 31st December 2015 on Monday 29th February, and that both revenue and profits are anticipated to be ahead of market expectations. The company will host a presentation for analysts at 9:30am at finnCap’s offices and a webcast for shareholders at 11:30am that morning. Registration for either event can be made by email to investors@quartix.net. Andy Walters, Managing Director, stated that the combined base in the USA and France almost doubled in the year, to 11,000 units. She also added that new unit installations in that market grew by 74% to 57,000 vehicles.

Sierra Rutile Limited (SRX.L) Announced in its Q4 2015 operational update that Q4 2015 rutile production was 25% higher than Q4 2014 with 38,787 tonnes of rutile and 10,484 tonnes of ilmenite produced (Q4 2014: 31,025 tonnes of rutile and 10,574 tonnes of ilmenite), representing Sierra Rutile’s highest quarter of rutile production to-date. A minor dryer failure in the mineral separation plant during the last week of the year caused a temporary processing interruption and resulted in 1,550 tonnes of rutile being held partially processed at year end. The material will be processed in early January resulting in additional finished product. Adjusting for this Rutile In-process, production for the quarter was 40,337 tonnes of rutile. Full-year production was 126,021 tonnes of rutile and 37,633 tonnes of ilmenite, representing a 10% increase and 5% increase on 2014, respectively. The company achieved its upper range of 2015 production guidance (guidance of 120,000 to 130,000 tonnes). For 2015, Direct Operating Cash Costs were US$537/t and All-in Operating Cash Costs were $666/t resulting in a reduction in unit operating costs for 2015 compared to 2014.4 When adjusting for the Rutile In-process, Direct Operating Cash Costs were $530/t and All-in Operating Cash Costs were US$658/t, representing the upper range of guidance for Direct Operating Cash Costs and the lower range of guidance for All-in Operating Cash Costs. Construction of the Gangama Dry mine remains on budget and on schedule for the planned Q2 2016 commissioning. A number of significant project milestones at the Gangama Dry Mine were achieved during the quarter, including completion of contractor camp construction and completion of concentrator plant fabrication. Demand from the titanium metal industry continued to grow in 2015, and is anticipated to continue to grow in 2016. Looking at the overall end markets for rutile, although the titanium dioxide pigment market was weak in 2015, pigment demand is anticipated to make a modest recovery during 2016 and long-term demand for titanium metal is expected to be an area of continued high growth. It intends to follow a sales led production plan for 2016 and will produce to meet its sales requirements, with a focus on profitability over volume.

Sirius Real Estate Limited (SRE.L) Announced that it has allotted and issued of 5,478,012 ordinary shares to the company’s shareholders who elected to receive ordinary shares under the Scrip Dividend Programme as an alternative for the interim dividend for 2015, which is payable on 20 January 2016.

SEGRO Plc (SGRO.L) Announced that it has appointed Gerald Corbett as a Non-Executive Director with effect from 1 March 2016. Also, he would succeed Nigel Rich as Chairman after the AGM on 22 April 2016.

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