Top of the Street: Lloyds, Lufthansa, Italgas, Essity
04/08/2025 12:49
A round-up of notable broker activity this morning from Europe's top-ranked* analysts: ** RBC raises British bank Lloyds LLOY.L to "outperform" from "sector perform" following the Supreme Court's judgment last week, also citing the bank's strong deposit franchise, sustainable earnings from its structural hedge as well as attractive total return yield ** Barclays raises German airline group Deutsche Lufthansa LHAG.DE to "equal-weight" from "underweight", expecting unit revenues from its thriving cargo and MRO units to weaken only modestly, though adding the German group is less exposed than peers to premium leisure INITIATIONS AND REINSTATEMENTS ** Deutsche Bank reinstates Europe's biggest gas distributor Italgas IG.MI with "buy" rating, as it positively views the 2i Rete acquisition and appreciates the company's strong management track record ** Goldman Sachs initiates Swedish hygiene products maker Essity ESSITYa.ST with "neutral" rating, pointing to market volatility that could weigh on profitability, while cost savings and operating leverage are expected to support margin improvement (*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 Anastasiia Kozlova and Gianluca Lo Nostro in Gdansk) ((Anastasiia.Kozlova@thomsonreuters.com))