LONDON (ShareCast) - UBS has hiked its target price for Shire by nearly a tenth, saying that the rumoured acquisition of Nasdaq-listed NPS Pharmaceuticals would "make sense" for the Dublin-based biopharmaceutical group. The bank kept a 'neutral' stance on the shares, but lifted its target from 3,150p to 3,450p.

UBS said that a potential takeover would focus on rare diseases, an area where Shire is aiming to build its position. NPS's expertise in gastro-intestinal disease also fits well with Shire, it said. Meanwhile, NPS has mostly de-risked its main pipeline with one drug already approved and another one filed with US regulators.

Credit Suisse has maintained an 'outperform' rating for estate agent chain Foxtons, saying that the exit of Chief Executive Officer Michael Brown does not change its positive view on the stock.

Foxtons plans to replace Brown with Chief Operating Officer Nic Budden from July 1st. "Budden has been central in designing and executing the company's successful roll-out strategy and Mr. Brown will remain on the board as a non-executive director," the bank said.

In spite of a tough year ahead of Tate & Lyle, JPMorgan Cazenove has reiterated its 'overweight' recommendation for the sugar and sweeteners manufacturer, saying that the business is "focused, fixed and ready for growth".

"While [this year] is likely to be another tough year, we believe Tate's ingredients business has a stronger product pipeline, deeper customer relationships and better infrastructure. This should drive high-quality, sustainable profit growth and group earnings per share growth from [next year]," JPMorgan said.

Westhouse Securities has maintained its 'buy' recommendation for Africa-focused oil and gas group Bowleven after the company achieved a "key hurdle" in progressing its Etinde gas and condensate project offshore Cameroon.

"We think that this is the first key step that will trigger a significant de-risking of the Etinde project," according to Westhouse analysts Mark Henderson and Jamal Orazbayeva.

BC

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