A round-up of notable broker activity this morning from Europe's top-ranked* analysts:
** Peel Hunt upgrades Chilean miner Antofagasta ANTO.L to "hold" from "reduce", saying higher prices mean increased cash flows for the business
** UBS upgrades British lender Lloyds Banking Group LLOY.L to "buy" from "neutral", saying that weak sentiment towards British domestic banks has created an attractive entry point
** Citigroup downgrades British asset manager Schroders SDR.L to "neutral" from "buy" as shares trade near its new PT of 5.90 British pounds ($7.97). It says the price is "consistent with the proposed offer by Nuveen that we expect to be accepted"
** RBC cuts Dublin-headquartered energy group DCC DCC.L to "sector perform", lifting its PT to 6.50 British pounds, as it sees a likely deal with pursuers Energy Capital Partners, LLC and KKR, but it is "not convinced it will be much more than 10% ahead of the current price"
(*Analyst rankings from Thomson Reuters StarMine. The scale is from 1-star to 5-star with 5 being the best. Analysts are ranked on earnings accuracy as well as relative performance of recommendations over trailing 12-month & 24-month periods.)
($1 = 0.7407 pounds)
(Reporting by Athina Karolidou and Alessandro Parondi)