A round-up of notable broker activity this morning from Europe's top-ranked* analysts:
** Jefferies cuts Symrise SY1G.DE and Brenntag BNRGn.DE to "underperform" from "hold" on ongoing volume and margin overhang for the former and a risk of weaker topline growth for the latter
** It upgrades Umicore UMI.BR to "buy" from "hold", saying that it prefers businesses with relative pricing power in the current deflationary/weak demand environment
** Barclays cuts Aviva AV.L to "equal weight" from "overweight", saying it is positive on its pending acquisition of Direct Line, but believes that potential is reflected in the share price
** UBS cuts ISS ISS.CO to "neutral" from "buy", saying risk/reward now looks more balance after significant re-rating YTD
INITIATIONS AND REINSTATEMENTS
** Stifel initiates Experian EXPN.L with "buy" as it sees upside from further compound growth and management's strong track record providing confidence in ongoing value creation
(*Analyst rankings from Thomson Reuters StarMine. The scale is from 1-star to 5-star with 5 being the best. Analysts are ranked on earnings accuracy as well as relative performance of recommendations over trailing 12-month & 24-month periods.)
(Reporting by Jagoda Darlak and Amir Orusov in Gdansk)
((jagoda.darlak@tr.com, amir.orusov@tr.com))
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