Top of the Street: L'Oreal, Nestle, Airbus, National Grid, Sodexo

Rockwool A/S

21/03/2025 12:56

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

** RBC upgrades L'Oreal OREP.PA to "outperform" from "sector perform" highlighting attractive growth in the beauty market

** RBC also downgrades packaged food giant Nestle NESN.S to "sector perform" from "outperform", reflecting the share price that is approaching its unchanged PT of CHF 93

** Berenberg raises Airbus AIR.PA to "hold" from "sell", saying a multi-year reduction to consensus estimates has aligned the market view with its own

** Morgan Stanley downgrades Sodexo EXHO.PA to "equal weight" from "overweight", saying it has much less confidence in the caterer's execution after it cut FY forecasts on Thursday

** Barclays cuts Danish stone-wool manufacturer Rockwool ROCKb.CO to "equal-weight" from "overweight" on diminished discount to historical multiples after strong run of the shares

INITIATIONS AND REINSTATEMENTS

** Morgan Stanley assumes coverage of National Grid NG.L with "overweight", saying the British utility remains undervalued amid a new growth paradigm in electricity networks

** Goldman Sachs initiates Sanofi SASY.PA with "neutral" saying the healthcare group is emerging as a pipeline story, but calls for additional proof points before it can be considered an R&D leader

(*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 Greta Rosen Fondahn and Mateusz Rabiega)

 ((Greta.RosenFondahn@thomsonreuters.com))