Analyst calls: GOOG, AOC, MMC, CVA, FSLR, PHG . . .
Posted Oct 14th 2008 12:15PM by Eric Buscemi
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Analyst initiations
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Analyst upgrades:
- Jefferies upgraded shares of Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE: APD) to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $79 from $63 on valuation as they believe the stock is oversold at current levels and that the company is well positioned to outperform in a slowing demand environment.
- Goldman upgraded the U.S. Insurance Brokers sector to Attractive from Cautious and upgraded AON Corporation (NYSE: AOC) and Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE: MMC) to Buy from Neutral.
- Covanta Holding Corporation (NYSE: CVA) was upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer. The firm recommends buying shares because they believe that its business model is defensive and its long-term contracts provide stability.
- First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Friedman Billings.
- Baird upgraded IMS Health, Inc. (NYSE: RX) to Outperform from Neutral.
- The Progressive Corporation (NYSE: PGR) was lifted to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
Analyst downgrades:
- Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: TYPE), GSI Commerce, Inc. (NASDAQ: GSIC) and Koninklijke Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG) were today's noteworthy downgrades:
- Jefferies downgraded shares of Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: TYPE) to Hold from Buy and lowered its target to $10 from $16 on expectations IT spend will slow in 2009 with the weakening economy.
- Oppenheimer downgraded GSI Commerce, Inc. (NASDAQ: GSIC) to Perform from Outperform partly due to valuation, macroeconomic factors, slower than expected movement to online distribution channels, and increased competition.
- ING Group cut Koninklije Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG) to Sell from Hold after the company's Q3 results missed estimates.
- Westar Energy Inc. (NYSE: WR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
- Wachovia lowered Franklin Resources, Inc (NYSE: BEN) to Neutral from Outperform.
- Deutsche Bank downgraded Infineon Technologies (NYSE: IFX) and SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) to Hold from Buy.
Analyst initiations:
- Friedman Billings reinitiated Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) with an Outperform rating and $530 target. The firm finds the risk/reward attractive given Google's leverage to the ongoing shift in advertising dollars online and its growing natural monopoly in search.
- Suntrust assumed coverage of Employers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: EIG) with a Buy rating and $19 target and expects the dynamics in the workers' comp area to improve in the coming quarters due to balance sheet disruptions at sector leaders American International Group (NYSE: AIG) and Hartford Financial Services (NYSE: HIG) as well as a potential firming in rates.
- BancTrust Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: BTFG) was initiated at Keefe Bruyette with a Market Perform rating and $10 target and believes the company's Florida loan exposure will likely weigh on the stock in the near term.
- Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS) was initiated at KeyBanc with a Hold rating.
- Barclays started Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE: ARO) with an Equal Weight rating and $30 target.
- Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (NYSE: SNI) was initiated at Morgan Stanley with an Underweight rating and $27 target.
Tags: aeropostale, banctrust financial group, BanctrustFinancialGroup, employers holdings, EmployersHoldings, franklin resources, FranklinResources, hartford financial services, HartfordFinancialServices, monotype holdings, MonotypeHoldings, philips electronics, PhilipsElectronics, progress software, ProgressSoftware, scripps, westar energy, WestarEnergy
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-14-2008 @ 7:44PM
John said...
I stocked up on Google last Thursday at $325 and bought a little more today at $365. I'm in for the long run and expect GOOG to double within a year or two.