RMD

Following the recent spate of attempts by private equity (PE) firms to take over listed entities, Macquarie Research Equities (MRE) have investigated which top 100 stocks have the balance sheet capacity to be re-geared, and what a PE firm could pay as a full price. The aim of this analysis was to gauge what would be the full takeover valuation price a PE firm could pay. This is given the current willingness to re-gear balance sheets and the extremely low risk premium being applied by PE investors to equities and debt at present.

Shares analyst UBS have a look at which shares Outperform when the Australian dollar rises. The analyst: The obvious way to measure a share's currency sensitivity is to look at its EPS sensitivity. However, the shares analyst note that this ignores what else is going on when the Australian dollar (A$) is rising.

ResMed (RMD) have a maintained Outperform shares recommendation and a 12 month share price target of $7.15 from stock analyst, Macquarie Research Equities (MRE). MRE have raised the possibility of the price target being further lifted by additional quarterly results showing continued market share gains in the US and recovery of European operation, underpinned by steady and accelerating industry growth. The stock analyst expects continued ResMed innovation and the recent recall by their competitors are sure to drive further market share to the company.

ResMed (RMD) have an reiterated Outperform recommendation and a 12 month share price target of $7.08 from stock analyst Macquarie Research Equities (MRE). This health care sector stock is MRE's top pick of the sector followed by CSL and RHC. The stock analyst also expects ResMed to step up their spending on new product development to 6.5 percent of sales in the quarter which is up from 5.8 percent for FY06. MRE is expecting 29.9 percent growth to $165.2 million from ResMed.

If you wish to use these broker recommendations for trading shares listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, it is highly recommended that you back up your analysis using fundamental or technical analysis or a combination of both before investing in any company.

UBS has a Neutral 2 recommendation for National Australia Bank (NAB) with a target of $35 per share.

Macquarie Research Equities (MRE) has noted that about 65% of companies now having reported their profit results to the market. Stocks in the ASX100 have recorded 22 positive surprises and 9 negative surprises for the reporting season to date. The Ex100 was more volatile and reported 29 positive and 28 negative surprises.