Top of the Street: DNB, Legrand, CVC, Rexel

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

** Exane BNP Paribas upgrades DNB DNB to "neutral" from "underperform", as it points to the Norwegian bank's three years of underperformance and a relative de-rating, while highlighting Norway's "incredibly resilient" economy

** Jefferies upgrades Legrand LR to "buy" from "underperform", citing the French electrical equipment maker's growing data centre business and signs of a cyclical rebound

INITIATIONS AND REINSTATEMENTS

** Degroof Petercam initiates coverage on CVC CVC with a "buy" rating, citing the Dutch asset manager's competitive advantages and attractive valuation with a stock trading at a 33% discount to its peer

** Jefferies initiates coverage on French electrical parts distributor Rexel RXL with a "hold" rating as it sees "not enough spark" to justify a sustainable valuation re-rating

(*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.)