Top of the Street: Nestle, Siemens, Johnson Matthey, Bouygues

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

** J.P. Morgan upgrades Swiss food and drinks group Nestle NESN.S to "overweight" from "neutral", saying that "FY27 is shaping up as a vintage year" as the broker expects sales volumes and margins to bounce back

** Jefferies cuts German engineering group Siemens SIEGn.DE to "hold" from "buy", warning that its strong backlog visibility is increasingly priced in after recent share outperformance

INITIATIONS AND REINSTATEMENTS

** Citigroup renews coverage on UK chemicals company Johnson Matthey JMAT.L with a "buy" rating, noting the recent portfolio reset has created a "simpler group with a clearer path to earnings growth and cash returns"

** UBS initiates coverage on French conglomerate Bouygues BOUY.PA with a "buy" rating, saying that the recent pullback in the stock provides a "compelling buying opportunity" given the upside in data centres

(*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.)