Analyst initiations: U.S. retail hardlines, biofuels, IPG and OMC

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The U.S. Retail Hardlines Sector, the BioFuels Sector, Interpublic Group and Omnicom Group were today's noteworthy initiations:

Lehman initiated the Retail Hardlines Sector with a Neutral. The firm initiated coverage of Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) with Overweight ratings and Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) and Williams Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) with Equal Weight ratings.
Oppenheimer initiated Aventine Renewable (NYSE: AVR), Pacific Ethanol (NASDAQ: PEIX) and VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE) with Perform ratings. The firm is cautious on the industry due to higher feedstock costs.
UBS initiated Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) and Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) with Buy ratings and an $11 target and $62 target, respectively. The firm views valuation as attractive.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

Morgan Stanley assumed coverage of International Flavors (NYSE: IFF) with an Overweight rating.
Wachovia initiated CGI Group (NYSE: GIB) with a Market Perform rating.
Leap Wireless (LEAP) was initiated at RBC Capital with a Sector Perform rating and $55 target.

Tags: analyst, aventine, avr, bbby, bby, bed bath and beyond, BedBathAndBeyond, best buy, BestBuy, cgi group, CgiGroup, gib, hd, home depot, HomeDepot, iff, initiation, international flavors, InternationalFlavors, interpublic, ipg, leap, low, lowes, omc, omnicom, pacific ethanol, PacificEthanol, peix, verasun, vse, williams sonoma, WilliamsSonoma, wsm

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