OUR QUEST IS NOT TO BE BULLISH OR BEARISH, BUT TO CORRECTLY ASSESS FUTURE TRENDS

Citi rates AUB as Buy

Citi considers entry price increasingly important across Australian and New Zealand insurers, given solid but modest growth prospects and broadly fair valuations.

General insurers are expected to deliver relatively stable underlying margins, modest revenue growth and strong capital generation. It is felt Insurance Australia Group and Suncorp Group offer downside protection and potential reported-margin upside.

Elsewhere, Citi believes QBE Insurance may offer stronger organic growth.

Among private health insurers, Medibank Private's near-term outlook appears more certain than nib Holdings, although its valuation is higher and growth remains subdued, the analysts explain.

Insurance Australia Group and AUB Group are Citi's preferred sector exposures, with Buy ratings.

For AUB Group: Buy; $34.80 target.

UBS rates GYG as Neutral

The UBS September Australian Retail & Consumer Store Network Trackers monitors the progress of store rollouts for several retailers, where new store growth is a key pillar of earnings growth.

The analyst notes Guzman y Gomez's Australian restaurant network is 257 at September 15, a rise of two restaurants since FY26 with 32 restaurants openings in FY26.

Management is guiding to 35 gross openings in FY27 and a third is expected to open imminently.

The stock is Neutral rated with a $29 target price.

UBS rates LOV as Buy

The UBS September Australian Retail & Consumer Store Network Trackers monitors the progress of store rollouts for several retailers, where new store growth is a key pillar of earnings growth.

The analyst notes Lovisa Holdings' store network as at September 15 is 1,172, up 36 stores since FY26 with the rollout coming from Europe, Asia and Africa & NZ.

A & NZ is up 5, Asia up 8 and Europe up 19 since the end of FY26, while the Americas are unchanged.

Sales growth for Lovisa has mainly been generated from net new store growth for the past decade and this trend is expected to continue, the broker believes.

Buy rated. Target $28.