Analyst initiations: Mortgage insurers, THOR and ELY

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Mortgage Insurers, Thoratec Laboratories and Callaway Golf were today's noteworthy initiations:

Keefe Bruyette resumed coverage of Old Republic (NYSE:ORI), MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG), PMI Group (NYSE:PMI) and Radian (NYSE:RDN) with Market Perform ratings and a $16 target, $13 target, $7 target and $6.50 target, respectively, as they expect increased capital needs to generate operational headwinds in the near-term.
JMP Securities expects FDA approval of Thoratec's (NASDAQ:THOR) next generation HeartMate II VAD any day now and for the company to meet/beat 2008 sales guidance. Shares were started with an Outperform rating and $20 target.
Callaway Golf (NYSE:ELY) was assumed at Stephens with an Overweight rating and $19 target. The firm is positive on Callaway's leadership position, strong balance sheet, new products and international opportunity.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

Kaufman Bros. initiated Bancscares of Florida (NASDAQ:BOFL) with a Buy rating and $15.50 target.
Raymond James started Dialysis Corp of America (NASDAQ:DCAI) with a Strong Buy rating and $9 target.
Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) was initiated at Lazard with a Buy rating and $420 target.

Tags: analyst, bancshares of florida, BancsharesOfFlorida, bofl, callaway, dcai, dialysis corp of america, DialysisCorpOfAmerica, ely, initiation, intuitive surgical, IntuitiveSurgical, isrg, mgic, mortgage insurer, MortgageInsurer, mtg, old republic, OldRepublic, ori, pmi, radian, rdn, thor, thoratec

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