Broker tips: RSA, Catlin, Afren

Berenberg said it has taken a more positive outlook at RSA, but has trimmed its target price for the insurance stock from 477p to 444p, saying it stills sees "material external pressures".Berenberg said: "In our view, RSA provided a credible operational turn-around plan with its H1 2014 results yesterday, which we expect will deliver improvements to both the quantum and quality of earnings over the next few years. Likewise, capital now appears to be on a firm footing."Insurer Catlin produced a "strong first-half result", according to Numis Securities, which kept an 'add' rating and 585p target price on the stock.Analyst Nick Johnson said that the shares are "currently undervalued [with] good potential upside". Pre-tax profits of $318m in the first six months of 2014 were over double last year's and "significantly ahead" of consensus estimates of $237m, Johnson said. Afren's share price was under pressure on Friday after the company announced that it had suspended operations at the Barda Rash field in the Iraqi region of Kurdistan.However, analysts at Canaccord Genuity played down the market's concerns, repeating a 'buy' recommendation, saying the suspension shouldn't have a big impact on the stock. "If anything, this may have a tendency to save some of this year's capex that might have been allocated to this asset in Kurdistan."BC Castelnau Group