A round-up of notable broker activity this morning from Europe's top-ranked* analysts:
** Morgan Stanley cuts Novo Nordisk NOVOb.CO to "underweight" from "equal-weight", citing a "tough path ahead" due to rising competition from rivals like Eli Lilly LLY.N, compounded drugs, and emerging generics
** Degroof Petercam raises Anheuser Busch Inbev ABI.BR to "buy" from "hold" saying it sees an attractive entry point with historically low valuation and near double‑digit FCF, while Q3 weakness is already priced in
INITIATIONS AND REINSTATEMENTS
** Berenberg initiates coverage of Rentokil Initial RTO.L with "sell" rating as it expects subdued North America growth and ongoing Terminix-integration complexity to cap margins below consensus
** Citigroup resumes ABN Amro Bank ABNd.AS coverage with "buy" rating, expecting the Dutch bank to deliver higher-than-consensus net interest income, resulting in higher EPS through 2027
(*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 Agnieszka Olenska and Alessandro Parodi)
((Agnieszka.Olenska@thomsonreuters.com, Alessandro.Parodi@thomsonreuters.com))