Analysts at Investec are quite critical of any attempt by Barclays to raise fresh capital - which they think the lender does not need - at current valuations. In their opinion that would be tantamount to capitulating to regulators´ demands. "How very disappointing!" they write to clients. In fact, the broker would rather see an 18 month dividend suspension to raising the equivalent additional capital now at just 0.9 times´ tangible net asset value [tNaV].In that same vein, they explain that if Barclays does raise as much as £4bn "surplus" equity, on which it will earn little return, then the incremental drag on return on equity [RoE] will likely limit their view on fair value to circa 345p (their current price target). If Barclays had the courage to say no then they would see further upside; but sadly this appears less likely, they go on to tell clients. Investec would consider a partial mitigation - a scenario they see as likely - through the use of CoCos [Contingent convertible bonds] or CCNs [Capital contingent notes] to be an element of positive surprise.Notwithstanding likely near-term capital disappointment they retain a Buy recommendation and 345p RoE-growth/CoE-growth derived target price. Nevertheless, Standard Chartered (Buy) is their top pick, they point out. Cannacord Genuity has decided to stick to its guns on Aberdeen Asset Management following the fund managers´s quarterly update on assets under management Monday morning - reiterating their buy recommendation and price target on the stock. They cite the extraordinary factors which affected the above figures, outperformance by Aberdeen´s funds and longer-term optimism towards emerging markets as the main factors behind their call.As well, they believe that the quarter's margin accretion should offset net outflows to some extent. Aberdeen´s funds lost 5% in the quarter (around -£10.3bn), whereas the peak to trough market fall in May/June was -17% with some recovery towards the end of June.Furthermore, they note that at Aberdeen's own Asia outlook conference last week, hosted by Hugh Young, the outfit did indeed highlight a general slowing down of emerging market economies [EM]. However, they believe EM should continue to attract inflows over the longer term and with good performance. "Aberdeen should experience superior flows compared to the sector. We retain our BUY rating on the stock," they conclude. Lastly, their price target on the stock remains unchanged at 440p and they call attention to the fact that on this morning´s conference call the firm´s Chief Executive Officer [CEO] guided to much more stable asset flows metrics compared to what was seen in June. Broker Daniel Stewart continues to include FTSE-250 listed insurer Hiscox amongst their preferred stocks in the insurance sector. The main reason for the above lies in the fact that they expect the firm to grow at about 10% per year for the next two years. Hiscox today unveiled a rise in interim profits before tax to £180.7m from £125.8m one year ago alongside a rise in gross written premiums of 12.3% to £1,017.9m, driven by property and small commercial lines.Many of the group´s main operating metrics benefitted. Thus, the group´s combined ratio dropped to 74.7% versus 81.7%, its annualised return on equity rose to 25.8% from 21.1%. Hence the 16.7% rise in its dividend pay-out to 7p per share from 6p before. AB
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