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Analyst upgrades:
- Baird upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB), SunTrust (NYSE: STI) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) to Outperform from Neutral citing the ability to raise cheap capital following the Treasury's aggressive policy response.
- Keefe Bruyette upgraded First Security Group (NASDAQ: FSGI), Amcore Financial (NASDAQ: AMFI) and Seacoast Banking (NASDAQ: SBCF) to Outperform from Market Perform to reflect the benefits of the government's TARP program.
- Suntrust believes Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ: ZION) is disproportionately positioned to benefit from what should be a wave of industry fallout and consolidation over the next few years. Shares were upgraded to Buy from Neutral.
- Cadbury (NYSE: CBY) was raised to Hold from Sell at ING Group.
- Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
- Genentech (NYSE: DNA) was upgraded at Piper Jaffray to Buy from Neutral.
Analyst downgrades:
- HSBC downgraded shares of Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) to Neutral from Overweight on valuation and believes any revision to the terms of the government equity investment could lead to dilution and book value erosion.
- Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) was cut to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan due to its high PC exposure.
- STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) was cut to Underperform from Buy at Merrill Lynch as they believe 2009 consensus estimates are too high.
- JMP Securities downgraded Movado (NYSE: MOV) to Market Perform from Outperform.
- CGG Veritas (NYSE: CGV) was lowered to Underweight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
- Merrill downgraded eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) to Underperform from Neutral.
Analyst initiations:
- Suntrust initiated AmSurg (NASDAQ: AMSG) with a Neutral rating, citing reimbursement pressures, competition, lack of commercial pricing power and modest operating cost inflation.
- Oppenheimer initiated Idenix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: IDIX) with a Perform rating and believes shares are fairly valued at current levels.
- Cross Country Healthcare (NASDAQ: CCRN) was initiated at Soleil with a Hold rating and $15 target. The firm believes Florida, the company's most important market, is still in the early stages of a turnaround.
- FedEx (NYSE: FDX) was assumed with a Neutral rating and $75 target at Credit Suisse.
- Penn National (NASDAQ: PENN) was started at Morgan Stanley with an Equal Weight rating.
- Craig-Hallum initiated CH Robinson (NASDAQ: CHRW) with a Neutral rating and $45 target.
Closing Bell: When We All Love the PIIGS (NBG, SQNM, PG, ERTS, KO)
Serious Money: Cheapest Stocks List Shrinks from 26 to 21
Chasing Value: Hasbro Earnings Makes My Point
