BEST of the BROKERS
RANDGOLD RESOURCES
Nomura has downgraded the gold miner from “neutral” to “reduce” and cut its target price from 7115p to 6970p, surprised that despite a structural shift in political risk due to a recent coup in Mali, Randgold’s de-rating has only been generally in line with wider market sell-off.
CARPHONE WAREHOUSE
UBS has left its “buy” rating on the mobile phone retailer unchanged, but reduced its target price from 208p to 175p, having reduced its estimates for earnings per share for 2012-13 from 12.9p to 12p. But the broker remains a buyer as it says concerns over strategic value erosion are overdone.
SEVERN TRENT
Investec has downgraded the water utility from “buy” to “hold” and reduced its target price to 1,664p from 1,718p. The broker says that the recent uplift in its share price has been driven by speculation of a bid for the company, but it does not necessarily see this as likely.