Analyst calls: PM, PFG, OMX, STD, RBS, DEO, DAL, KR, LIZ, JNY, RL ...
Posted Nov 4th 2008 11:43AM by Eric Buscemi
Filed under: Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Diageo plc (DEO), Kroger Co (KR), OfficeMax Inc (OMX), Analyst initiations, Jones Apparel Group (JNY), Liz Claiborne (LIZ), Polo Ralph Lauren'A' (RL), Delta Air Lines (DAL)
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Analyst upgrades:
- Philip Morris (NYSE: PM) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
- Friedman Billings upgraded shares of Principal Financial (NYSE: PFG) to Market Perform from Underperform as they believe the company's capital buffer could keep outrunning credit losses.
- Friedman Billings also upgraded Office Max (NYSE: OMX) to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm believes the risk of recourse to Office Max from the Timber Notes formerly backed by Lehman is low and that any litigation by noteholders will have a low level of success.
- Citigroup upgraded CF Industries (NYSE: CF) to Buy from Hold on valuation following the recent weakness but lowered their target to $113 from $128.
- Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
- Granite Construction (NYSE: GVA) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
Analyst downgrades:
- UBS downgraded shares of Banco Santander (NYSE: STD) to Sell from Neutral on valuation and the economic deterioration in Spain.
- Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) was cut to Hold from Buy at Collins Stewart to reflect the company's outlook and capital levels.
- Diageo (NYSE: DEO) was lowered to Neutral from Buy at Merrill.
- T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ: TROW) and TreeHouse Foods (NYSE: THS) were downgraded at Wachovia to Market Perform from Outperform.
- Fulton Financial (NASDAQ: FULT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at B. Riley.
- Jefferies downgraded Kenexa (NASDAQ: KNXA) to Hold from Buy following the Q3 results as they believe falling margins could lead to more downward revisions. The firm lowered their target to $8 from $13.
Analyst initiations:
- Jesup & Lamont also assumed coverage of Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) with a Buy rating and $15.50 target and believes Delta continues to reduce capacity to address the decline in forward bookings.
- Banc of America believes Kroger (NYSE: KR) is well positioned following gross margin investments. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $31 target.
- Morgan Stanley initiated Liz Clairborne (NYSE: LIZ) and Jones Apparel (NYSE: JNY) with Underweight ratings and Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) with an Equal Weight rating.
- Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) was initiated with a Sell rating at ING Group.
- Jesup & Lamont believes Allegiant (NASDAQ: ALGT) is a way to gain exposure to the airline industry without actually buying an airline stock. Shares were initiated with a Buy rating and $45 target.
Tags: adi, algt, cf, dal, deo, fult, gva, jny, knxa, kr, liz, omx, pfg, pm, rbs, rl, std, ths, trow
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