Top of the Street: Brenntag, GEA Group, Porsche AG, Puma, Randstad

PUMA SE

Tue 12:30

A round-up of notable broker activity this morning from Europe's top-ranked* analysts:

** Deutsche Bank cuts German chemical distributor Brenntag BNRGn.DE to "hold" from "buy", citing its relatively high exposure to oil-linked commodity chemicals, which could increase risks amid the ongoing Middle East conflict
** Deutsche Bank upgrades GEA Group G1AG.DE to "buy" from "hold," as it sees a more compelling mismatch between the food processing technology supplier's resilient fundamentals and the current valuation
** Barclays ups German luxury carmaker Porsche AG P911_p.DE to "equal-weight" from "underweight", citing robust current trading with no negative near-term catalysts
** HSBC raises German sportswear maker Puma PUMG.DE to "buy" from "hold", citing a significant growth potential despite short-term woes
** Morgan Stanley lifts Dutch recruiter Randstad RAND.AS to "equal-weight" from "underweight"

(*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 Romolo Tosiani)
 ((Anastasiia.Kozlova@thomsonreuters.com; Romolo.Tosiani@thomsonreuters.com))