MOST NOTEWORTHY: American International Group, Energy East and BG Group Plc were today's noteworthy upgrades:
- Citigroup upgraded shares of American International Group (NYSE:AIG) to Buy from Hold on valuation as they see limited downside at current levels. They believe the stock is "poised for over 35% upside in the next twelve months" and raised their target price to $42 from $41.
- Jefferies raised Energy East (NYSE:EAS) to Hold from Underperform to reflect the growing pressure from politicians to influence the final NYPSC order in the merger approval proceeding. The firm raised their target price to $25.50 from $16.50.
- Bernstein upgraded shares of BG Group (NASDAQ:BRGYY) to Outperform from Market Perform as they believe the company should benefit from the tightness in the global liquefied natural gas market.
OTHER UPGRADES:
- Total SA (NYSE:TOT) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman and added to the Conviction Buy List.
- Wachovia lifted CarMax (NYSE:KMX) to Market Perform from Underperform.
- Pike Electric (NYSE:PEC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings.