Once a week I like to take a look at which shares Australia's leading brokers are tipping as buys and sells.
Today I thought I would start with a look at the shares which have found favour with brokers this week and subsequently been given buy ratings. Here are three which caught my eye:
GPT Group (ASX: GPT)
According to a research note out of UBS, its analysts have upgraded the REIT to a buy rating with a $5.30 price target. The investment bank believes the market has been overly negative on the impact of Amazon on its retail portfolio. Furthermore, it appears bullish on its premium office portfolio in Sydney and Melbourne. Whilst I believe UBS makes some valid points, I'm still reluctant to gain exposure to the bricks and mortar retail space at this point. For this reason I'll be giving its shares a miss.
Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT)
This morning Citi reiterated its buy rating and $5.18 price target on the leading data centre operator's shares following its decision to acquire a 14% stake in Asia Pacific Data Centre Group (ASX: AJD). According to the note, the broker believes this has been done in order to make sure that AJD's interests remain aligned with NextDC's. Whilst this is perhaps an unwanted distraction for the company, I still believe that NextDC is one of the best long-term buy and hold investment options on the share market.
Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO)
Analysts at Deutsche Bank have reiterated their buy rating and $73.00 price target on the mining giant's shares. Despite copper production falling short of its expectations, the bank appears to have been reasonably pleased with Rio's second-quarter update due to better-than-expected realised pricing. Whilst I'm not a buyer of its shares, if you are bullish on iron ore and copper then you could do a lot worse than an investment in Rio Tinto in my opinion.
