Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AKS, LEN, MAR, DE, KLAC, VIVEF ...
Posted Jan 8th 2009 11:26AM by Eric Buscemi
Filed under: Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Lennar Corp'A' (LEN), Marriott Intl'A' (MAR), Analyst initiations, Deere and Co (DE)
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Analyst upgrades:
- KeyBanc upgraded Epicor (NASDAQ: EPIC) to Buy from Hold based on several near-term catalysts that include possible convertible debt repurchases, reasonable Q4 results, a proxy fight, and a boost from the Epicor 9 product cycle in 2H09.
- KeyBanc also upgraded AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) to Buy from Hold based on relative valuation and said the company could benefit from lower iron ore, scrap natural gas, and labor inputs.
- JP Morgan upgraded Lennar (NYSE: LEN) to Overweight from Neutral based on relative valuation.
- Marriott (NYSE: MAR) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
- Raymond James (NYSE: RJF) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Wachovia.
- Deere (NYSE: DE) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein.
Analyst downgrades:
- Merriman downgraded Premier Exhibitions (NASDAQ: PRXI) to Neutral from Buy following the company's worse than expected Q3 results to reflect near-term financing risk and declines in visitation trends.
- UBS cut Vivendi (OTC: VIVEF) to Neutral from Buy. The firm sees downside risks to the company's businesses due to weakening macro environment.
- Friedman Billings downgraded KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) to Market Perform from Outperform on valuation following the recent rally and on their expectation that a bookings recovery will be slow.
- CBL & Associates (NYSE: CBL) and UDR Inc (NYSE: UDR) were lowered to Sell from Neutral at Goldman.
- ViroPharma (NASDAQ: VPHM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Natixis.
- EMCOR Group (NYSE: EME) was downgraded at Friedman Billings to Market Perform from Outperform.
Analyst initiations:
- Jefferies assumed Abiomed (NASDAQ: ABMD) with an Underperform rating and $8 target. The firm has clinical and commercial concerns for the company's lead product, Impella, and thinks shares are overvalued at current levels.
- Merriman initiated Ardea Biosciences (NASDAQ: RDEA) with a Buy rating. The firm believes RDEA806 is one of the strongest non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors in treating HIV. The firm finds shares undervalued at current levels.
- Oppenheimer initiated Rackspace (NYSE: RAX) with a Perform rating and expects a more attractive entry point due to downward earnings revisions and the upcoming IPO lockup expiration.
- OptionXpress (NASDAQ: OXPS) was initiated at Keefe Bruyette with a Market Perform rating and $15 target.
- Vivendi (NASDAQ: VIVEF) was assumed with an Underperform rating at Jefferies.
- Ansys (NASDAQ: ANSS) was started with a Market Weight rating and $16 target at Thomas Weisel.
Tags: abmd, aks, anss, cbl, de, eme, epic, klac, len, mar, opxs, prxi, rax, rdea, rjf, udr, vivef, vphm
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