LONDON (ShareCast) - JP Morgan has raised its rating on John Wood Group to ‘neutral’ from ‘underweight’ and lifted its price target to 510p from 390p in a review of European oil services companies.

“The focus of attention has been on the big oils in the recent sector rally, but we still think the European services stocks offer some of the best upside and clarity of growth prospects in the broader sector,” the broker said.

UBS has begun coverage on UK bookmakers William Hill and Ladbrokes with respective ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ ratings.

The broker has a 300p price target on William Hill and a 310p price target on Ladbrokes.

The bookmakers have shown the defensiveness of the betting sector by outperforming leisure stocks, UBS said.

However, while it believes that low-level betting on sports is habitual, it added that it remains to be seen how defensive betting on machines that pay out £500 is.

HSBC has raised its rating on Marks and Spencer to ‘overweight’ from ‘neutral’ but cut its target price on the stock to 400p from 445p, to reflect the recent fall in the retailer’s share price.

Attractive valuations have appeared across the retail sector, HSBC said, adding that M&A activity is likely to rise.

The broker keeps its ‘neutral’ stances on the CD and DVD retailer HMV, the clothes chain Next and on the electricals specialist DSG International, cutting their respective price targets to 130p from 138p, to 1,100p from 1,280p and to 47p from 75p.

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