Broker tips: Insurers, Housebuilders, Lloyds, RBS, Anglo American
Barclays Capital has lowered its recommendation for the entire European insurance sector from 'neutral' to 'negative'.
Anglo American
2,205.00p
16:45 24/04/24
Banks
3,996.57
17:09 24/04/24
FTSE 100
8,040.38
16:34 24/04/24
FTSE 350
4,419.71
17:09 24/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,374.06
16:44 24/04/24
Household Goods & Home Construction
12,474.80
17:09 24/04/24
Insurance (non-life)
3,669.24
17:09 24/04/24
Lloyds Banking Group
51.78p
16:40 24/04/24
Mining
10,520.27
17:09 24/04/24
NATWEST GROUP
285.90p
17:15 24/04/24
RSA Insurance Group Limited
684.20p
16:54 28/05/21
Taylor Wimpey
131.40p
16:34 24/04/24
The broker said companies are facing "significant and growing" capital and earnings headwinds, particularly in parts of the life insurance sector. As part of the sector-wide downgrade, UK insurer RSA was cut from 'overweight' to 'equal weight'.
Goldman Sachs has reiterated it positive stance on UK housebuilders ahead of the general election on Thursday, saying there are limited risks for the sector based on currently-announced policies by the major parties.
"All three parties are committed to improving housing supply and the planning environment, with the Liberal Democrats," it said. 'Buy'-rated Taylor Wimpey remains GS’s top pick, as its ample land bank positions it strongly among the UK housebuilders
Jefferies raised its rating on Lloyds Banking Group to 'buy' from 'hold' and upped the target price to 102p from 88p Tuesday, saying that the earnings downgrade cycle has troughed for the bank.
“Investors are looking to invest in shares of banks which have de-risked, are returning capital, have positive earnings momentum and are easily understood,” said Jefferies, noting that Lloyds is moving in the right direction on all counts.
Nomura has raised its rating on banking group RBS from 'reduce' to 'neutral' after the recent fall in the stock.
"Exposure to UK and Irish macro strength, release of excess capital from Citizens, and underperformance of c24% against SX7P [Stoxx Europe 600 Banks index] offset the litigation and execution risks, in our view, and we therefore upgrade the name to 'neutral'," said analyst Chintan Joshi.
Anglo American was being pressured lower on Tuesday by a downgrade by RBC Capital Markets from 'sector perform' to 'underperform'.
The broker dropped its target price on the stock from 1,100p to 900p, saying: "Low bulk prices have been discounted, but now Anglo faces the prospect of weaker contribution from De Beers which will further slow an improvement in the balance sheet."