Broker tips: Easyjet, Tullow Oil, Balfour Beatty

Charles Stanley is telling investors to keep shares in Easyjet after the budget carrier failed to upgrade its profit forecasts.

The Luton-based airline on Tuesday posted record annual profits for the fourth year in a row, though it cautioned that investment would lead to flat revenue per seat in the first half of 2015. Charles Stanley said the results were good but added: "Given the increasingly competitive market, there is no upgrade to profit estimates which may disappoint some. We maintain our recommendation at 'hold'."

Tullow Oil's share price was rising strongly on Tuesday, supported by a 'buy' call from Liberum,which downplayed the recent sell-off in the shares.

The broker said that results from two "basin-opening wells" in Kenya should be released in the next three months and would be catalysts for the stock, "but stable oil prices may be required before investor interest returns".

A third-quarter trading update from Balfour Beatty "contained a welcome lack of further bad news", according to Westhouse Securities, though the broker did continue to recommend investors to sell the stock.

"The continuing serious problems sweeping through much of the sector, of cost over-runs and programme slippage on fixed-price contracts, support our view that risks remain on the downside and we would continue to sell into any potentially short-term strength."