Investec has reiterated its 'buy' rating and 240p target price for UK banking group Barclays, saying that 'value always wins in the end'."It's one in the eye today for Barclays's many enemies and detractors. H1 2012 underlying profit before tax of £4.2bn is 11% ahead of consensus, driven (as always?) by a better-than-expected performance within Barclays Capital," said analyst Ian Gordon.Investec says that Chief Financial Officer Chris Lucas promised a continuation of "business as usual". While few believed him, the broker says that in spite of the challenges that remain, "he has delivered today". Pearson's shares dropped on Friday morning, with Jefferies saying that the publishing group's first-half results statement 'doesn't really tell us very much'."Pearson deliver less than 20% of full year adjusted EPS [earnings per share] in H1, so the numbers are not that insightful," the broker said in a research note."Reasonable sales performance, though trend operating profit and EPS growth rates appear to be stepping down - comparison to MHP [McGraw-Hill] and REL [Reed Elsevier] looks weaker."UBS has pared its price target for natural gas giant BG Group after the cautious tone its second-quarter results."Along with caution around the LNG outlook for 2012 and the impairment of US natgas properties this quarter saw a more cautious tone being adopted, we believe," the broker said.UBS has cut its price target from 1,730p to 1,620p, but has maintained its 'buy' recommendation for the stock, with the current stock price at just 1,242.5p (down 0.28% on the day). BC