Analyst upgrades 9-11-07: U.S. beverage sector, IMCL, HOT and MAR

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The U.S. beverage sector, ImClone, Starwood Hotels and Marriott International were today's noteworthy upgrades:

Goldman Sachs upgraded the U.S. beverage sector, including Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE: TAP), Anheuser Busch Companies (NYSE: BUD), PepsiAmericas Inc (NYSE: PAS) and Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE) to Attractive from Neutral. The firm cited expectations for a stronger 2008, benign commodity cost outlook, better than expected US beer demand, and valuations. Goldman upgraded shares of PepsiCo Inc (NYSE: PEP) to Buy from Neutral citing valuation and improving industry fundamentals.
Bear Stearns upgraded ImClone (NASDAQ: IMCL) to Outperform from Peer Perform citing positive Flex trial results and the new market opportunity for Erbitux.
Thomas Weisel upgraded Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT) and Marriott International (NYSE: MAR) to Market Weight from Underweight based on healthy August trends, credit market may ease concerns over supply growth, and valuations.

OTHER UPGRADES:

Thornburg Mortgage (NYSE: TMA) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
Western Digital Corp (NYSE: WDC) was upgraded to Outperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.
KeyBanc raised Ruby Tuesday (NYSE: RT) to Hold from Underweight.
Take-Two Interactive Software (NASDAQ: TTWO) was upped to Buy from Hold at Gabelli.

Tags: analyst, anheuser busch, AnheuserBusch, bud, cce, coca-cola, firm, hot, imcl, imclone, ko, mar, marriott, molson, pas, pep, pepsi, pepsiamericas, rt, ruby tuesday, RubyTuesday, starwood, take-two, tap, thornburg, tma, ttwo, upgrade, wdc, western digital, WesternDigital

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