BEST OF THE BROKERS
ENRC
Morgan Stanley rates the miner “overweight” with a target price of £14. The broker believes that rising ferrochrome spot prices could give a lift to 2011 earnings of between five and seven per cent, and thinks that consensus upgrades could be higher still. Morgan Stanley adds that ENRC’s leverage to iron ore still looks underappreciated, given iron ore spot prices are 10 per cent higher than the broker’s forecasts.
CENTRICA
Standard & Poor’s maintains its “strong buy” rating with a 12-month target price of 385p after the firm’s 2010 results last week. The broker expects higher organic investment this year following recent UK upstream acquisitions. It predicts that rising oil prices will boost UK upstream profits, but warns higher gas costs will put pressure on British Gas’ margins despite a seven per cent rise in tariffs in December 2010.
WM MORRISON
Seymour Pierce rates the supermarket “hold” with a target price of 520p ahead of its results on 10 March. The broker is looking for an update on Morrison’s plans following the recent acquisition of 16 former Netto stores and online baby product retailer Kiddicare. It expects underlying pre-tax profit of £860m and a dividend of 9.2p per share, and adds that the shares are likely to be driven by macro factors and risk appetite.