Analyst upgrades 4-02-07: Merrill Lynch, Kraft Foods & US Steel upgraded today
Posted Apr 2nd 2007 10:56AM by Kevin Shult
Filed under: Before the bell, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Good news, Merrill Lynch (MER), U.S. Steel (X), Kraft Foods'A' (KFT)
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Merrill Lynch & Co (MER), Kraft Foods Inc (KFT) and US Steel Corp (X) were today's noteworthy upgrades:
- Goldman Sachs upgraded Merrill Lynch & Co (NYSE: MER) to Buy from Neutral with a $107 target, believing the sell-off in Merrill shares is overdone.
- JP Morgan added Kraft Foods Inc (NYSE: KFT) to its Focus List with a $40 target, believing valuation reflects the overhang from Altria Group's (MO) share distribution.
- Prudential upgraded shares of US Steel Corp (NYSE: X) to Neutral from Underweight citing synergies from the Lone Star acquisition and the increase in scrap prices.
OTHER UPGRADES:
- Jefferies upgraded shares of Cephalon, Inc (NASDAQ: CEPH) to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $88 from $69 to reflect a favorable risk/reward profile and the imminent approval of Nuvigil following FDA approval of draft labeling for the drug.
- Credit Suisse upgraded PG&E Corp (NYSE: PCG) to Outperform from Neutral with a $53 target citing valuation.
- Matrix USA upgraded TJX Cos (NYSE: TJX) to Buy from Hold on relative valuation.
- William Blair upgraded Blue Nile, Inc (NASDAQ: NILE) to Outperform from Market Perform citing near-term fundamentals, improved long-term cash flow, long-term growth potential and downside protection.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required). Tags: analyst, ceph, cephalon, kft, kraft, mer, merrill, micron, mu, nile, pcg, rating, son, sonoco, steel, theflyonthewall.com, tjx, upgrade
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