Top of the Street: Equinor, European insurers

Sampo Oyj

02/07/2025 12:16

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

** UBS downgrades Equinor EQNR.OL to "sell" from "neutral" citing downside risk to consensus expectations as oil and gas prices come down while growth remains limited

** J.P.Morgan upgrades German reinsurer Munich Re MUVGn.DE to "overweight" from "neutral" saying capital returns are likely to surprise positively

** Goldman Sachs upgrades Admiral ADML.L to "buy" from "sell" saying it is well positioned with low USD FX exposure and a retail P&C focus, and poised to benefit from rising UK motor prices, market consolidation and growing home insurance demand

** GS also ups British insurer Hiscox HSX.L to "buy" from "neutral" citing its business mix, which is almost 50% retail, adding that it offers the highest EPS and top-line growth vs London market peers

** UBS raises Swiss insurer Helvetia Holding HELN.S to "buy" from "neutral" seeing a potential 20% uplift in cash generation from proposed Baloise merger

 INITIATIONS AND REINSTATEMENTS

** Berenberg restarts coverage of Sampo SAMPO.HE with "buy", naming the Finnish group its top pick in the Nordic non-life insurance sector based on its market leadership and diversified exposure across the region

** Berenberg also reinitiates Norway's Gjensidige GJFG.OL with "hold" due to its reliance on the Norwegian market and lack of scale in Sweden and Denmark

(*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 Anna Peverieri and Ozan Ergenay)

 ((Anna.peverieri@thomsonreuters.com ; Ozan.Ergenay@thomsonreuters.com))