BUZZ-Top of the Street: Beverage, testing cos, StanChart

A round-up of notable broker activity this morning from Europe'stop-ranked* analysts:

** 4-star rated Credit Suisse analyst Sanjeet Aujlareiterates his preference for spirits over beer, among EUbeverages, saying higher exposure to US discretionary spend,improving momentum in Scotch and Cognac should help

Cuts Heineken to "underperform" and has the 2ndmost bearish PT on the stock (Eikon data)

Top picks: Pernod Ricard, Diageo

Downgrades Remy Cointreau to "neutral" (valuation)

** Testing and inspection cos SGS (cut to"neutral"), Intertek and Bureau Veritas (to"underperform") downgraded by CS due to headwinds to near-termgrowth (ongoing pressure in O&G markets) and high valuation

** Banco Popular : In a note titled "New Management,New Times", Citi upgrades stock to "buy", saying market was "toobearish". The 2nd "buy" upgrade in less than a week, takesoverall count to 9 -- tripled since Sept.

** Standard Chartered : Gets first "buy" rating in 6mths; BAML upgrades expecting higher returns on bank's excessdeposits

** Eni SA : Jefferies upgrades to "buy", taking theoverall "buy" to the highest in 2 yrs and double vs. same timelast yr

"We believe Eni's Upstream cash cycle is at an inflectionpoint with the anticipated swing in Upstream cash flow drivingone of the greatest swings in operational momentum amongst theEU IOCs (Integrated Oil Companies)," Jefferies says

** Glencore : Canaccord's 5-star analyst Tim Huff(ups to "buy") says since coal pricing once again surpassed thebroker's 2017 forecasts, he remains "structurally more positiveon coals." (5 "buy" ratings since Q3 trading update)

(*Analyst rankings from Thomson Reuters StarMine. Scale is from1-star to 5-star with 5 being best. Analysts ranked on earningsaccuracy as well as relative performance of recommendations overtrailing 12-month & 24-month periods.)