Broker tips: Oil stocks, Weir, Sage

Large European oil companies will face a "material squeeze" on cash flows and earnings in 2015 after the recent plunge in Brent crude to below $70 a barrel (bbl), according to analysts at Barclays.

Madrid-listed Repsol and London-listed Royal Dutch Shell are the best positioned in the current environment, the bank said. It also highlighted upside potential for UK producer BP which has the "biggest opportunity to address the cost base".

Barclays kept an 'overweight' rating on all three stocks.

Investec has slashed its target for the share price of industrial engineering group Weir by 17% from 1,900p to 1,585p, saying that almost every important data point for the company is "trending negatively". It kept a 'sell' rating.

Investec estimates that falling commodity prices - oil, gas and iron ore - will have a big impact on volumes for Weir. "Headwinds are multiple (and growing)," the broker said.

Westhouse Securities has reiterated it 'add' recommendation and 467p target price for Sage Group after the accountancy software firm reported a "decent set of figures" in its annual report on Wednesday.

Westhouse didn't make any changes to its forecasts following the results, but said the figures provided a "degree of reassurance following management change and a period of frustration over perceived lack of clarity and delivery".