Lloyds impressed investors and analysts alike with its first-quarter results on Friday, though some brokers highlighted uncertainty ahead of the election and regarding the government's stake.Gary Greenwood from Shore Capital said he expected the shares to react positively, but material upside "may be limited by market concerns about the outcome of the election". Greenwood reckons that a Labour government or Labour-led coalition is likely to be "a more challenging outcome for banks" than a Conservative or Conservative-led one.Meanwhile, Augustin Eden from Accendo Markets said investors will be "watching Lloyds like hawks" ahead of the elections next week. He said that at current levels, "Lloyds Banking Group could be the bargain of the decade" if the government offloads its final holding.Berenberg has recommended investors to 'sell' shares of Barclays, saying that positive catalysts at the bank "seem further away than we hoped".The broker lowered its rating on the stock from 'hold' and cut its target price from 220p to 200p.Zoopla's purchase of uSwitch is "highly attractive" and offers significant upside, according to UBS which hiked its target price for the property website group from 225p to 260p.The Swiss bank maintained a 'buy' rating on the stock, saying: "Whilst strong execution will be required to integrate the businesses, revenue synergies can be seen as a large potential upside rather than requirement for value creation."
Barclays (BARC)
Lloyds (LLOY)