Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: KFT, SYMC, CAR, GLAD, HANS ...
Posted Oct 17th 2008 10:50AM by Eric Buscemi
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Analyst Initiations
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Analyst upgrades:
- Merrill upgraded Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) to Buy from Neutral citing progress in the company's turnaround plan, execution, and 2009 earnings growth.
- Thomas Weisel raised Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX) to Overweight from Market Weight and believes the company's core business remains strong and that valuation is attractive.
- Friedman Billings upgraded shares of Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation after checks indicated the company should meet Q2 expectations.
- NeuStar (NSR) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
- UBS raised Advance Auto Parts (NYSE: AAP) to Neutral from Sell.
- Goldman upgraded Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) to Buy from Neutral.
Analyst downgrades:
- Friedman Billings downgraded shares of Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ: ZION) to Market Perform from Outperform and lowered its target to $33 from $43 following the company's Q3 results, as they believe near-term credit trends and concerns surrounding its securities portfolio will limit upside. Shares were also downgraded at JP Morgan to Neutral from Overweight due to deteriorating credit trends.
- Banc of America cut Monster (NASDAQ: MNST) to Neutral from Buy to reflect a lack of margin stability and their belief consensus estimates remain too high.
- Barclays downgraded Avis Budget Group (NYSE: CAR) to Equal Weight from Overweight citing the global economic slowdown and refinancing risk.
- Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), Luxottica (NYSE: LUX) and ArvinMeritor (NYSE: ARM) were cut to Neutral from Buy at Goldman.
- Luxottica was also downgraded at HSBC to Neutral from Overweight.
- JP Morgan cut AuthenTec (NASDAQ: AUTH) to Underweight from Neutral.
Analyst initiations:
- Janney Montgomery believes Gladstone Capital's (NASDAQ: GLAD) management team and lower portfolio investment risk profile warrant a premium valuation. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $13 target.
- CommVault (NASDAQ: CVLT) was initiated with a Buy rating and $14 target at Cantor, as the firm finds the stock attractively valued given its secular growth rate potential.
- KeyBanc is positive on Papa John's (NASDAQ: PZZA) management team, growth potential, cost initiatives, and differentiation. Shares were assumed with a Buy rating and $30 target.
- Arris (NASDAQ: ARRS) was initiated at Jefferies with a Hold rating and $7 target.
- Rigel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RIGL) was initiated at Banc of America with a Neutral rating and $21 target.
- Morgan Stanley started Hansen Natural (NASDAQ: HANS) with an Equal Weight rating.
Tags: AAP, ARM, ARRS, AUTH, CAR, CVLT, ESRX, GLAD, HANS, JCI, KFT, LUX, MNST, PZZA, RDS.A, RIGL, SYMC, ZION
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-17-2008 @ 1:18PM
Stockpreacher said...
Good analysis on the analyst calls. There are more on http://stockpreacher.com