BUZZ-Top of the Street: Pennon, Severn Trent, IHG, Accor, Shell, Glencore

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

** J.P. Morgan downgrades Pennon Group PNN.L and Severn Trent SVT.L to "neutral" from "overweight", as it sees few positive catalysts in 2026 for British water utilities and prefers UK electricity networks

** Jefferies raises Holiday Inn-owner InterContinental Hotel Group IHG.L to "buy" from "hold", hailing its brand diversification, ancillary fee catch-up, margin momentum and capital allocation

** Deutsche Bank upgrades French hotelier Accor ACCP.PA to "buy" from "hold", citing upcoming catalysts like the Essendi disposal to fund shareholder returns

** ING cuts Shell SHEL.L to "hold" from "buy" due to continued pressure on commodity prices, which it says will decide the direction of the oil major's profitability in 2026-2027

** UBS cuts Glencore GLEN.L to "neutral" from "buy", expecting a modest improvement in the mining group's 2026 EBITDA driven by copper, while coal, zinc and marketing businesses, which represent about 65% of the group, are expected to be stable y/y

(*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.)

(Reporting by Tiago Brandao and Athina Karolidou)

((Tiago.brandao@thomsonreuters.com; Athina.karolidou@thomsonreuters.com))