Analyst calls: BWLD, SNY, NYT, STP, ERIC, RTP, KTOS, ZGEN
Posted Nov 24th 2008 10:57AM by Laurie Pasternack
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Motorola (MOT), New York Times'A' (NYT), Analyst Initiations, Rio Tinto plc ADS (RTP), Suntech Power Hldgs ADS (STP)
.gif)
Analyst upgrades:
- Jefferies upgraded Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) to Buy from Hold on valuation with the stock down 65% in two months as they believe the company has a "best-in-class fundamental story." The firm lowered its target to $25 from $30.
- Morgan Stanley upgraded Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) to Overweight from Equal Weight on valuation and believes near-term cost reductions could provide a positive catalyst.
- Citigroup upgraded New York Times (NYSE: NYT) to Hold from Sell and lowered its target to $5.50 from $7 on valuation and believes the dividend cut will boost the company's liquidity.
- Pantry (NASDAQL PTRY) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings.
- LECG Corp (NASDAQ: XPRT) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
- Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI) was upgraded at RBC Capital to Outperform from Sector Perform.
Analyst downgrades:
- Jefferies downgraded Suntech (NYSE: STP) to Hold from Buy and lowered its target to $6 from $25 as they believe concerns about a convert refinancing in February 2010 will continue to weigh on the stock.
- Credit Suisse cut Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) to Underperform from Outperform due to expectations for a decline in wireless infrastructure spending.
- ING downgraded shares of Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) to Hold from Buy as they believe it will be challenging for the company to execute asset sales planned at reducing debt in the current environment.
- hotma (NYSE: NFS) was lowered to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
- Linear Tech (NASDAQ: LLTC) and Maxim (NASDAQ: MXIM) were downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings.
Analyst initiations:
- B. Riley believes Kratos Defense (NASDAQ: KTOS) will ultimately be acquired by a larger defense platform provider. Shares were initiated with a Buy rating and $2.64 target.
- Banc of America assumed coverage of Zymogenetics (NASDAQ: ZGEN) with a Neutral rating and $3 target. The firm is concerned by the company's cash position.
- Goldman resumed coverage of Motorola (NYSE: MOT) with a Neutral rating.
- Chimera Investment (NYSE: CIM) was started with a Buy rating and $3 target at Merrill Lynch.
- Pharmasset (NASDAQ: VRUS) was assumed with an Equal Weight rating at Morgan Stanley.
Tags: buffalo wild wings, BuffaloWildWings, BWLD, Chimera Investment, ChimeraInvestment, CIM, ERIC, Ericsson, inthenews, Kratos Defense, KratosDefense, KTOS, LECG Corp, LecgCorp, linear tech, linear technology, LinearTech, LinearTechnology, LLTC, Maxim, MOT, Motorola, MXIM, Nationwide Financial, NationwideFinancial, New York Times, NewYorkTimes, NFS, NYT, Pantry, Pharmasset, PTRY, rio tinto, rio tintoplc, RioTinto, RioTintoplc, RTP, sanofi, sanofi-aventis, SNY, STP, suntech, Thomson Reuters, ThomsonReuters, TRI, VRUS, XPRT, ZGEN, Zymogenetics
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
