BUZZ-Top of the Street: Kering, DSV, ITV, Genmab

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

** Top-rated analyst Credit Suisse raises Gucci-owner Keringto "outperform" from "neutral", saying Gucci brandcontinues to grow mindshare on social media among luxury brands.Broker says brand can outperform peers again this year as thecompetition has been slow to react to need for newness

** Stifel upgrades Danish logistics company DSV to"buy", says co will continue to gain share, and will do so moreprofitably than peers

** 5 star rated analyst Barclays cuts British broadcasterITV to "equal-weight" from "overweight", saying itdoesn't see many positives from 2017 results and 2018advertising trends. Unless advertising accelerates significantlyfrom June onwards, it struggles to see where momentum would comefrom, the broker adds

** Peel Hunt raises Moneysupermarket to "buy" from"hold", saying it is not convinced the co has become a badbusiness overnight, despite some issues identified by the newCEO

INITIATIONS AND REINSTATEMENTS

** UCB: Barclays initiates Belgian biotech co with"underweight" rating, expecting "tepid earnings growth andstagnant top-line growth"

** Barclays starts covering Merck with"underweight" rating, noting few pipeline catalysts in pharmaand a liquid crystals business coming off peak profitability andexperiencing competition

** Barclays initiates coverage of Ipsen with"overweight", naming it one of its preferred EU midcaps, "withsmart positioning in growth niche specialty segments andpotential upside from further intelligent deployment of a robustbalance sheet"

** Genmab: Barclays starts with "overweight",pointing to the co's key asset Darzalex that "recently eclipsedblockbuster status globally", and expecting the strong growth inthe multiple myeloma setting to continue

** Jefferies starts covering Metso with "hold"due to its slow structural recovery

(*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.)