MOST NOTEWORTHY: ICF International, General Mills, Kellogg and Caterpillar were today's noteworthy upgrades:
- Jefferies upgraded shares of ICF International (NASDAQ: ICFI) to Buy from Hold on valuation to reflect the company's accelerating core business momentum and upped Road Home funding.
- Citigroup raised its rating on General Mills (NYSE: GIS) and Kellogg (NYSE: K) to Buy from Hold on valuation, as they believe food consumption stocks are recession proof.
- Bear Stearns upgraded shares of Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) to Outperform from Peer Perform as they believe the company will benefit from the interest rate cuts.
OTHER UPGRADES:
- Merck (NYSE: MRK) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
- El Paso (NYSE: EP) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
- Lehman raised Kimberly Clark (NYSE: KMB) to Overweight from Equal Weight.