Analyst downgrades 12-21-06: Bed Bath & Beyond to Neutral

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) and Digitas (DTAS) were the most notable downgrades today:

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBY) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $43 target at Credit Suisse based on valuation;
Deutsche Bank, Stephens and ThinkEquity all downgraded Digitas Inc. (NASDAQ:DTAS) to Neutral, Equal Weight and Accumulate respectively, based on the company being acquired by Publicis Groupe (NYSE:PUB).

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

MasterCard Inc. (NYSE:MA) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at HSBC.
Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE:JBL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, citing near-term challenges from slowing end-markets, execution issues and a major acquisition; following the disappointing earnings and guidance, Credit Suisse also downgraded Jabil, to Neutral from Overweight and $12 target.
Conseco Inc. (NYSE:CNO) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan; the firm expects weak underwriting margins in their long-term care business due to rising claims and low lapses.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).