Analyst upgrades 7-12-07: ISCA, LMT, MRK and STX
Posted Jul 12th 2007 11:02AM by Kevin Shult
Filed under: Before the bell, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Good news, Merck and Co (MRK), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Analyst initiations
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Today's noteworthy upgrades included Lockheed Martin (LMT), Raytheon (RTN), Hartford Financial (HIG), Seagate Technology (STX) and CommScope (CTV):
- JP Morgan upgraded two defense stocks today: Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight on valuation;
- Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) was raised to Overweight from Neutral, with expectations for the company to post above average organic growth driven by strong bookings. The firm also raised Raytheon's 2008 EPS estimate to $3.80 from $3.60, well above the consensus estimate.
- AG Edwards believes Hartford Financial's (NYSE: HIG) recent weakness has created a buying opportunity and upgraded shares to Buy from Hold.
- Seagate (NYSE: STX) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Brean Murray as checks indicate a healthy seasonal uptick in demand for drives and PCs in 2H07.
- CommScope (NYSE: CTV) was Upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Morgan Keegan based on higher 2007 and 2008 expectations along with accretion from the Andrew acquisition...
OTHER UPGRADES:
- BMC Software (NYSE: BMC) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
- Friedman Billings raised Kimco Realty (NYSE: KIM) to Outperform from Market Perform.
- Merck (NYSE: MRK) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at AG Edwards.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required). Tags: analyst, bmc, cognizant, commscope, ctsh, ctv, hartford, hig, isca, kim, lmt, lockheed, merck, mrk, rating, raytheon, rtn, seagate, speedway, stx, theflyinthewall.com, upgrade
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