Fox-Davies Capital has maintained a “buy” rating at Rockhopper Exploration (LON:RKH) despite news this morning that the Falkland Islands focused oil and gas explorer had drilled a dry hole on its Ernest prospect. FDC said it had carried about 50p of value for Ernest in its risked valuation of the company but insisted that there was still upside in the shares. It reduced its target price to 350p. Elsewhere, FDC also retained a “buy” recommendation at Victoria Oil & Gas (LON:VOG) on news that the E&P group was seeing steady flow rates from its second well (La-106) on the Logbaba gas and condensate field, onshore Cameroon. The company is also making progress towards building a gas pipeline and has signed a 20 year exclusive gas sales agreement.

Westhouse Securities also retained a “buy” recommendation for Rockhopper on the basis that its successful Sea Lion discovery was underpinning the majority of its valuation and target price, which has now dropped to 617p. Meanwhile, Westhouse maintained a “sell” advisory for another Falklands explorer, Falkland Oil & Gas (LON:FOGL), which itself has previously drilled a dry well in the region. The company is still trying to source a deepwater drilling rig to carry on with its exploration programme.

HB Markets reduced its rating for marketing group Adventis Group (LON:ATG) to “sell” on a warning that adjusted pre-tax profits for 2010 could be up to 50% below market expectations of £1.97m. HBM said there was still scope for the price to fall further. Moving on, HBM cut construction group ROK (LON:ROK) to a “hold” on interim results that saw pre-tax profits halve to £3.0m. The broker warned the squeeze in fiscal spending did not bode well for the business, which has already planned for lower volumes in construction next year. Activity in social housing, maintenance and improvements looks brighter, buoyed by a strong order book of £435m. Elsewhere, HBM reiterated “hold” recommendations for Eg Solutions Plc (LON:EGS), Xaar (LON:XAR), Software Radio Technology (LON:SRT), Vitesse Media (LON:VIS) and £TIG.

On the subject of Innovation Group, Astaire Securities pointed out that an overhaul of the business under a new management team, cost reduction and some senior hires was ongoing. However, it said that concerns…

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