Analyst calls: SCRX, GOOG, LOW, DF, GILD, EK, SOLR, XRX ...

Analyst upgrades:

RBC Capital upgraded Sciele Pharma (NASDAQ: SCRX) to Sector Perform from Underperform following the acquisition by Shionogi.
Merrill believes Alcoa (NYSE: AA) may pursue an acquisition of Alumina Ltd (NYSE: AWC) following recent share weakness. Shares of Alumina were upgraded to Buy from Underperform.
Stanford upgraded shares of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) to Buy from Hold after channel checks indicated U.S. search market trends have stabilized as they believe GOOG's market share gains are broadening, Q3 expectations are modest and the valuation is near lows. The firm has a $550 target on the stock.
Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.

Analyst downgrades:

WestLB downgraded shares of Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) to Reduce from Hold as they believe the company's Q3 earnings could miss expectations.
Lehman downgraded Intersil (NASDAQ: ISIL) to Equal Weight from Overweight based PC exposure and market share loss in notebook power. The company's target was lowered to $24 from $29.
Dean Foods (NYSE: DF) was lowered to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Banc of America.
JP Morgan lowered Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS) to Underperform from Sector Perform.

Analyst initiations:

Citigroup initiated Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) with a Sell rating and $13 target. The firm believes 2008 consensus estimates and guidance are too high given the company's headwinds.
GT Solar (NASDAQ: SOLR) was assumed with a Neutral rating and $16 target at Banc of America. The firm believes the risk/reward is balanced at current levels with no significant new polysilicon opportunity. Shares were also initiated at Thomas Weisel with an Overweight rating and $18 target and at UBS with a Buy rating and $19 target.
Citigroup initiated Xerox (NYSE: XRX) with a Buy rating and $20 target and Electronics for Imaging (NASDAQ: EFII) with a Hold rating and $18 target.

Tags: aa, awc, bns, df, efii, ek, eric, gild, goog, inthenews, isil, low, scrx, solr, xrx

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