(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors)After its sharp fall in recent months Weir Group's (LON:WEIR) risk-versus-reward is now 'reasonably balanced' according to RBC Capital which has upgraded the share to 'sector perform' from 'underperform'. Analyst San Dhillon says the oil and gas engineering group's third quarter results released Tuesday were 'broadly in-line' with expectations and he believes the worst could be over for investors. 'Whilst the outlook remains difficult we expect the O&G trading performance to bottom soon (perhaps in Q1) and believe the risk/reward of the group's shares at current levels is reasonably balanced' Dhillon said in a note. 'Whilst we wouldn't entirely rule-out further downgrades 80p appears to be close to trough Weir earnings.' RBC's newfound positivity was not however shared by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan Cazenove as both downgraded Weir today. BoA Merrill Lynch cut its rating to 'underperform' from 'neutral' while JP's already had the stock as 'underweight' and it dropped its price target to 1120p from 1260p (current price:1163p). Across the rest of the market there was little movement in terms of analyst recommendations and ratings with most blue-chip brokers instead nudging price targets one way or the other. JP Morgan's upgrades to price target for Just Eat (LON:JE.) and drop-in office group Regus (LON:RGU) may perhaps speak to Britain's increasingly transient lifestyle – or is simply two quite separate stock calls. Whatever the interpreted correlation the broker repeats an 'overweight' rating for Just Eat and lifted its target to 650p from 630p while its 'neutral' rating for Regus now comes with a higher target price of 320p rather than 270p. In the mining sector Jefferies took quite substantial chunks out of its targets for Anglo American (LON:AAL) and Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) both of which rated 'neutral'. The broker's target for the former was cut to 635p from 800p while the latter drops to 580p from 640p. At the same time Jefferies also reduces Kaz Minerals (LON:KAZ) target to 140p from 170p lowers Rio Tinto's to 2900p from 3000p and clips South32 (LON:S32) to 70p from 80p. Elsewhere there was the usual commentary on the day's blue-chip stories from the trading houses. Marks & Spencer's (LON:MKS) interim results reflect the completion of another chapter in the retailers turnaround story so says CMC Markets Michael Hewson. Meanwhile The Share Centre analyst Helal Miah continues to recommend Marks & Spencer as a 'buy' for investors seeking a balance of income and growth and willing to accept a medium level of risk.
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