Top of the Street: L'Oreal, Swatch, Lindt, Nordic insurance

Sampo Oyj

25/06/2026 12:10

A round-up of notable broker activity this morning from Europe's top-ranked* analysts:
     
** Citigroup upgrades French cosmetics group L'Oréal OREP.PA to "buy" from "neutral," citing the company's expectations of stronger long-term growth driven by its Kering Beauty division
** Bernstein cuts Swatch Group UHR.S to "market-perform" from "outperform", saying that the stock is no longer leading the market as the "deep value queen", the status now taken by Prada 1913.F
     
INITIATIONS AND REINSTATEMENTS
     
** Jefferies initiates coverage of Lindt LISN.S with "underperform", seeing more 2026/27 pricing and margin guidance cuts as necessary to restore competitiveness, and a reality check regarding midterm growth
** Kepler Cheuvreux initiates coverage of the Nordic insurance sector noting it stands out in Europe for strong underwriting profitability and high capital efficiency:
it starts Finnish insurer Sampo SAMPO.HE and Norway's Storebrand STB.OL at "buy" as preferred names, citing their regional scale and strong structural growth, and takes a more cautious stance on Danish insurer Tryg TRYG.CO
     
     
(*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 Joao Manuel Mauricio and Antonis Pothitos)
((JoaoMnauel.VicenteMauricio@thomsonreuters.com))