Earnings statements from DMGT, Johnston Press and Trinity Mirror this month dared to report the advertising drop-off was actually slower in April. Looks like the City analysts have taken note - Goldman Sachs has raised its stock price targets on a host of European media companies (Reuters reports), including…

—Trinity Mirror: up to 88p from 31p (rating neutral)
—DMGT: up to 346p from 257p (rating neutral)
—Johnston Press: lifted from sell to neutral
—ITV: lifted from sell to buy

—Informa: up to 364p from 256.76p (rating buy)
—Reed Elseiver: up to 734p from 622p (rating buy)
—Pearson: up to 767p from 652p (but rating sell)

—Yell: up to 60p from 22.2p (rating neutral)
—WPP: up to 693p from 478p (rating buy)
—Publicis: up to €28.70 from €21.34 (rating neutral)
—Aegis: up to 124p from 95p (rating buy)
—TradeDoubler: up to 73.10 SEK from 35.10 SEK (rating neutral)

It suggests the City is becoming more confident we may have reached the bottom. “Following more positive macro data, we increase our 2010 forecasts by 23 percent on average,” it said (via ShareCast). But the effects of the downturn on the consumer economy still look bad, so only time will tell…

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