Analyst calls: ANN, CSUN, BBT, CVC, VRGY, CME ...

Analyst upgrades:

Citigroup raised Ann Taylor (NYSE: ANN) to Hold from Sell. The firm upgraded shares following the company's Q2 upside and believes guidance for the second half of 2008 is appropriately conservative.
Jefferies upgraded China Sunergy (NASDAQ: CSUN) based on valuation,and improved liquidity and silicon supply outlook.
Stephens upgraded infoUSA (NASDAQ: IUSA) shares to Overweight from Equal Weight to reflect the stock's valuation, new management, improvements in expense controls and the potential to become a takeover target.
Citigroup raised BB&T (NYSE: BBT) to Buy from Hold.
Stifel upgraded Leggett & Platt (NYSE: LEG) to Buy from Hold.

Analyst downgrades:

Citigroup downgraded Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) to Sell from Buy as they do not expect the company's structural moves to unlock value.
Wachovia dropped Knight Transportation (NYSE: KNX) to Market Perform from Outperform based on valuation.

Wachovia also downgraded Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) to Market Perform from Outperform based on valuation.
Goldman Sachs removed Verigy (NASDAQ: VRGY) from its Conviction Buy List.
JMP Securities dropped The Parent Company (NASDAQ: KIDS) to Market Perform from Outperform.
Citigroup downgraded SunTrust Banks (NYSE: STI) to Sell from Hold

Analyst initiations:

Exco Resources (NYSE: XCO) was initiated with an Outperform by RBC Capital, which is positive on Exco's valuation and potential upside from its shale gas acreage The firm has a target of $43 on the shares.
Merrill Lynch initiated HCP Inc. (NYSE: HCP) with a Neutral rating.
CME Group (NYSE: CME) was started with an Equal Weight rating by Lehman.
JMP Securities started Limelight Networks (NASDAQ: LLNW) with a Market Perform and target of $5.