FOCUS-As beer loses share to hard seltzer, US barley farmers scramble By Heather Schlitz Sharon, North Dakota, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Don Nygaard, a third-generation farmer in a remote corner of North Dakota, used to grow malt barley for Rahr Malting Corporation to make into lagers, pale ales and IPAs. But this year, he received no lucrative contracts from Minnesota-based Rahr or any beer makers, so his sprawling farm is growing food-grade barley and wheat, both crops that are priced near four-year

BUZZ-Top of the Street: Heidelberg Materials, Deutsche Telekom, Big Yellow Group, European beverages and logistics A round-up of notable broker activity this morning from Europe's top-ranked* analysts: ** HSBC downgrades Heidelberg Materials HEIG.DE to "hold" from "buy" as it expects weak pricing outlook in emerging markets and continued negative price/cost spread to lead to slow EBITDA progression ** UBS downgrades Deutsche Telekom DTEGn.DE to "neutral" from "buy" on valuation basis after the s

BUZZ-Exane prefers European brewers over distillers in depressed sector ** BNP Paribas Exane says a more favourable macro context for staples could help European alcohol makers' "depressed" valuations despite the challenged global demand outlook ** Exane prefers brewers over distillers, which it says face prolonged headwinds in the U.S. spirits market ** The broker chooses AB InBev ABI.BR as its top pick, as it expects the Dutch brewer's share consolidation and operational momentum to drive shar

EUROPE RESEARCH ROUNDUP- Alcon, Rockwool, Zealand Pharma Sept 10 (Reuters) - Securities analysts revised their ratings and price targets on several European companies, including Alcon, Rockwool and Zealand Pharma, on Tuesday. HIGHLIGHTS * Alcon AG ALCC.S : RBC raises to outperform from sector perform * Maersk MAERSKb.CO : JP Morgan resumes coverage with underweight rating; target DKK 8,575 * Rockwool ROCKB.CO : HSBC raises target price to DKK 3,200 from DKK 3,100 * Wizz Air WIZZ.L : JP Morgan cu

BUZZ-European beverages: DB cuts Pernod and Remy after dismal summer for booze stocks ** Deutsche Bank says soft drinks are the clear winner in the European beverages sector, while spirits and beer have suffered from a combination of negative estimate revisions and multiple contraction post a dismal summer ** "Brewers have not performed as well as we expected due to a combination of adverse weather in June and a lack of COGS (cost of goods sold) tailwinds," says DB ** It still sees the beer sect