Top of the Street: Merlin, Severn, Klépierre, Thales, Philips, Stellantis and Pan Africa Resources

Koninklijke Philips

03/08/2026 14:19

 (Corrects company name and descriptor in headline and bullet 5)
A round-up of notable broker activity this morning from Europe's
top-ranked* analysts:
     
** Jefferies cuts Merlin Properties  MRL.MC  to "hold" from
"buy", citing increased execution and financing risks as the
Spanish real estate company expands its investment in data
centre capacity and funding
** Jefferies cuts water utility Severn Trent  SVT.L  to "hold"
from "buy", due to political and affordability risks in the UK
water sector heightening uncertainties
** Jefferies downgrades Klépierre  LOIM.PA  to "hold" from
"buy", seeing no short-term catalysts to push the French
shopping centre operator's stock higher after a strong rally
** Barclays raises French engineering company Thales  TCFP.PA 
to "equal weight" from underweight", due to acquisitions, higher
margins, improved space execution and fading cyber concerns 
    ** UBS cuts Philips  PHG.AS  to "neutral" from buy", saying
the Dutch healthcare company's margin upside is more limited in
the near-term as its revenue acceleration slightly pushed out
and relative share performance has been strong
    ** UBS downgrades Stellantis  STLAM.MI  to "neutral" from
"buy", due to multinational carmaker's weaker-than-expected
delivery on U.S. turnaround and growing concerns about
achievability of free cash flow break-even
     
    INITIATIONS AND REINSTATEMENTS
    ** Jefferies starts Pan African Resources  PAFR.L  with
"buy", as the gold miner is reshaping its portfolio by
materially growing production from high-grade sources and by
diversifying its earnings mix in favour of Tier 1 jurisdictions.
     
    (*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 Ozan Ergenay and Marta Frackowiak)
 ((mailto:Ozan.ergenay@thomsonreuters.com))