Top of the Street: Ryanair, Rheinmetall, ArcelorMittal, Swedish banks
BUZZ-Top of the Street: Ryanair, Rheinmetall, ArcelorMittal, Swedish banks A round-up of notable broker activity this morning from Europe's top-ranked* analysts:
** UBS upgrades steelmaker ArcelorMittal MT.AS to "buy" from "neutral", citing a significant upside from rising EU steel prices and an attractive entry point after a recent pullback in the share price
** Berenberg downgrades Rheinmetall RHMG.DE to "hold" from "buy", citing uncertainty over the German defence group's medium-term growth outlook
** Barclays cuts Ryanair RYA.I to "equal weight" from "overweight", saying the low-cost carrier faces weaker near-term profitability from softer fares and higher fuel costs
** Barclays raises Svenska Handelsbanken SHBa.ST to "equal-weight" from "underweight" and Swedbank SWEDa.ST to "overweight" from "equal-weight", citing Sweden's increasingly attractive corporate lending growth outlook and expectations for a cyclical recovery
** RBC raises Germany's Heidelberg Materials HEIG.DE to "outperform" from "sector perform", saying the building materials company navigated a challenging quarter marked by unusual weather much better than peers
** RBC upgrades German kitchen equipment supplier Rational RAAG.DE to "outperform" from "sector perform", citing an attractive valuation following de-rating and saying it is confident the company can return to stronger growth
** RBC cuts British water utility Pennon Group PNN.L to "sector perform" from "outperform", based on challenging outlook for returns and earnings across the AMP8 regulatory period
** Peel Hunt cuts Irish energy distributor DCC DCC.L to "hold" from "add", citing a limited upside after the Nexora sale crystallised additional value
** Citi upgrades French testing and inspection company Bureau Veritas BVI.PA to "buy" from "neutral", pointing to "underappreciated" margin progression prospects
(*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 Lucie Barbier)
((Anastasiia.Kozlova@thomsonreuters.com; Lucie.Barbier@thomsonreuters.com))