Friday tips round-up: Tesco, Barratt, Provident Financial, RBS
13th Jan 2012 06:56
The Telegraph's Questor column looks at yesterday's big news from Tesco that like-for-like sales in the UK dropped 2.3% in the final six weeks of last year. That announcement has seen the stock lose 18.5% of its value in the last 24 hours. Questor makes the point that Warren Buffet, the great shama
Read moreFTSE 250 movers: Ocado soars on impressive festive sales
12th Jan 2012 15:03
There were plenty of company announcements on the FTSE 250 on Thursday, providing some big swings in the market. The biggest mover was Ocado after the online grocer reported a festive surge with gross sales in the seven trading days before Christmas jump 23.8% from the same period in 2010. Shares
Read moreThursday broker round-up - UPDATE
12th Jan 2012 09:08
Reckitt Benckiser: J.P. Morgan Cazenove downgrades to neutral from overweight. Tesco: Nomura reiterates buy rating and 500p target; Panmure Gordon cuts target from 500p to 440p, buy rating unchanged. Royal Bank of Scotland: Shore Capital reiterates sell. Tesco: Shore Capital downgrades to hold fr
Read moreCompletions higher than expected at Barratt
12th Jan 2012 07:48
House building firm Barratt Developments is paying down its debt faster than expected, after a solid second half of 2011. Revenues in the second half of last year were around the £950m mark, up some 8% on the corresponding period of 2010. The increase was driven by a higher number of house completi
Read moreThursday preview: Tesco's travails in the UK to continue
11th Jan 2012 14:59
There are not many things Britain's number one retailer Tesco does not sell, or so it seems, but tin hats are not among their product lines, which is unfortunate as shareholders may have need of some protection when the supermarket chain issues its Christmas trading update on Thursday. It is hard t
Read moreWednesday broker round-up - UDPATE
21st Dec 2011 08:51
HSBC: Investec reiterates buy with 800p target. Barclays: Investec reiterates buy with 330p target. Tesco: Nomura maintains buy rating and 500p target. AstraZeneca: Nomura keeps reduce recommendation and 2,400p target. Thorntons: Investec puts 35p target under review, hold rating kept; Merchant
Read moreBroker tips: Petrofac, Carpetright, UK house-builders
13th Dec 2011 12:34
Investec has reiterated its buy rating on oilfield services giant Petrofac, following the group's pre-close trading update in which it said it expects to deliver like-for-like (LFL) profit growth in 2011 of at least 20%. "Petrofac continues to make good progress on all fronts and we maintain our po
Read moreBroker snap: UBS warns of macro challenges for UK house-builders
13th Dec 2011 11:35
In its assessment of the UK house-building sector, UBS hails has warned that the upcoming year will be tough on stocks given the more challenging macro-economic outlook. UK house-builders have outperformed the FTSE All-Share index by 25% in 2011 so far, UBS notes, despite a difficult mortgage marke
Read moreThursday tips round-up: LSE, Speedy Hire, Barratt
17th Nov 2011 06:48
The Telegraph's Questor column sizes up the house builder Barratt Developments which announced a 25.9% rise in new reservations in an update yesterday. The key metric though was that its average selling price has risen to £207,000, up 7%. This is a result, says Questor, of the firm building bigger h
Read moreSector movers: Vodafone drags telecoms lower
16th Nov 2011 15:41
Vodafone has fallen nearly 4%, providing a drag in the telecommunications sector. The stock went ex-dividend today, hence the fall, meaning that investors no longer have the rights to receive the most recently-announced dividend. In other Vodafone-related news, according to Reuters, Dutch telecoms
Read moreFTSE 250 Movers: Barratt rises on reservations jump
16th Nov 2011 14:38
Leading the risers north, house builder Barratt Developments has seen reservations jump 25.9% in the period between July and the middle of November, compared to the same period of 2010. The average price it is achieving on sales has increased by 7% on 2010 and now stands at £207,000. Meanwhile, H
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie falls on gloomy economic outlook
16th Nov 2011 12:07
With some gloomy economic data doing the rounds this morning, the Footsie experienced a sharp fall around 11:00, as the Bank of England cut its growth estimates for the UK economy. Unfortunately, the unemployment report did little to settle investors' nerves. Meanwhile, reports attributed to the Fi
Read moreDigital Look broker talk
16th Nov 2011 10:53
Morrison: "Morrison was explicit in its allocation of capital, first and foremost, to grow the business, with any surplus considered for buybacks. Morrison is clearly in a position to do both, being less than half-way through a two-year GBP1bn buyback and working through to 8% gross space growth" [N
Read moreWednesday broker round-up - UPDATE
16th Nov 2011 09:44
Michael Page: HSBC upgrades to overweight from neutral. Reckitt Banckiser: Citi reiterates buy. Cairn Energy: Societe Generale initiates at buy. Royal Bank of Scotland: AlphaValue downgraded to add from buy yesterday and lowered the price target to £24.60from £29.80. ARM Holdings: UBS raises t
Read moreBarratt building strong order book
16th Nov 2011 08:08
Barratt Developments, the house builder has seen reservations jump 25.9% in the period between July and the middle of November, compared to the same period of 2010. The average price it is achieving on sales has increased by 7% on 2010 and now stands at £207,000. Barratt has also booked 3,221 for
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