Analyst calls: MRVL, LEH, FNM, FRE, NOK, PETM ...
Posted Sep 8th 2008 12:23PM by Eric Buscemi
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Analyst initiations, Marvell Technology Group (MRVL), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH)
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Analyst upgrades:
- Morgan Keegan upgraded Marvell Tech (NASDAQ: MRVL) to Outperform from Market Perform based on valuation and sustainable growth.
- Merrill upgraded Lehman (NYSE: LEH) to Neutral from Underperform and said the government bailout of the GSE's removes "considerable uncertainty" in the residential mortgage markets and that the housing market is now closer to a bottom. The analyst believes the environment has improved for Lehman to attract equity capital needed and that loss expectations are reflected in valuation.
- Friedman Billings upgraded Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ: ZION) and UCBH Holdings (NASDAQ: UCBH) to Outperform from Market Perform.
Analyst downgrades:
- Lehman downgraded shares of Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) to Equal Weight from Overweight after the U.S. government said it will place Fannie and Freddie into a conservatorship. Citigroup also downgraded shares to Sell from Buy following the federal government's plan to place the GSEs into conservatorship as they believe both Fannie and Freddie will no longer be managed to maximize common shareholder returns.
- Nokia (NYSE: NOK) was cut to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank. The firm downgraded shares following the company's guidance reduction and believes the forecast could still be optimistic.
Analyst initiations:
- Ctrip.com (NASDAQ: CTRP) was assumed with an Outperform rating at Credit Suisse, as the firm is positive on the company's valuation and growth opportunities.
- Lending Tree (NASDAQ: TREE) was initiated at Citigroup with a Hold rating and $10 target. Citigroup believes macro headwinds in the U.S. real estate market and a lack of current profitability create near-term risk to shares.
- Actuant (NYSE: ATU) was initiated with a Buy rating and $40 target at Ladenburg.
- RBC Capital initiated Teton Energy (NYSE: TEC) with an Outperform rating and $7 target.
Tags: analyst initiations, analyst upgrades, analystdowngrades, AnalystInitiations, AnalystUpgrades, AZO, CTRP, FNM, FRE, inthenews, ITG, LEH, MRVL, NOKTEC, PET, TREE
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