In a report on the UK advertising market by Commerzbank, the bank graded Aegis as an "accumulate", saying that it was one of the strongest performers in the sector and that it had "better scope for growth through an advertising recovery due to the proportion of commission-based revenues".
"The scarcity value of Aegis offers a very attractive acquisition target for one of the main industry players looking to strengthen its media-buying operations," the bank said.
Shares in Aegis, owner of the Carat media-buying network, were up by 5.63%, or 5p, trading at 93.75p this afternoon.
WPP Group was also upgraded from a "reduce" to "accumulate", but with a more cautious recommendation, saying "short-term risks to forecasts still remain". Shares in WPP were trading down by 2.69% this afternoon at 560p, a fall of 15.5p.
Cordiant Communications was kept on a "reduce" rating after its annus horriblis in 2001, where it lost accounts key including Hyundai. Commerzbank commented: "Although there has been constant speculation over Cordiant's potential as a takeover target, we would note that this has been expected for over two years and is still awaited."
It went on to describe Cordiant, owner of the Bates Worldwide ad network, as a "laggard" in the advertising recovery stakes. Shares in Cordiant were trading at 77p, down by 2.5% on the previous close.
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