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Broker tips: Morrison, Aviva, Wood Group

Thu, 08th Mar 2012 12:11

Morrison is 'delivering for shareholders again', according to Jefferies which has reiterated its buy recommendation and 350p target price for the supermarket retailer this morning.The US broker says that Morrison's final results look strong, with profits before tax (PBT) of £935m coming in ahead of its £917m forecast and the consensus estimate of £922m.Jefferies says that the uncertainty of a changing margin structure at Tesco has been reflected in brokers downgrading estimates at Morrison as of late. However, with Morrison's current earnings estimates "well underpinned", it says that investors should start to "refocus on the group's own merits".Nomura has reiterated its buy rating and 630p target price on insurance giant Aviva, after its full-year results showed 'good earnings and improving solvency'.Full-year earnings were better than expected with IFRS operating profit of £2,503m beating consensus estimates of £2,414m and operational cash generation coming in well passed forecasts of £1.6bn at £2.1bn.Nomura remains a buyer of the stock, saying that Aviva is attractively valued - trading at 6.5 times 2012 earnings. However, Legal & General still remains its top UK pick in the sector given better growth opportunities and a lower risk profile with higher solvency.UBS believes that the post-results share price fall for oil services engineering group Wood Group represents a good buying opportunity and has raised its target price for the stock from 730p to 810p.UBS says earnings were in line with estimates, but with net interest charges and the tax rate being lower than expectations, adjusted net income was ahead of forecasts.Nevertheless, shares took a tumble after the full-year results. "We believe [Tuesday's] negative share price reaction was largely due the wider negative market sentiment and also because of a reversal of what some investors thought was a likely promotion into the FTSE 100."On the back of good EPS momentum and strong underlying trends, we think the pullback presents an attractive buying opportunity," the broker said.BC

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