Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ED, RTN, ALU, NSRGY, RTP, HPQ ...
Posted Jan 9th 2009 11:40AM by Eric Buscemi
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Alcatel-LucentADS (ALU), Analyst initiations, Rio Tinto plc ADS (RTP), Anglo American (AAUKY)
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Analyst upgrades:
- Baird upgraded MSM Industrial (NYSE: MSM) to Outperform from Neutral based on valuation and a positive view for Industrial Distributors.
- William Blair upgraded Allscripts (NASDAQ: MDRX) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation following the recent pullback and believes Allscripts is well positioned to benefit from public policy that drives adoption of electronic medical records.
- Citigroup upgraded Consolidated Edison (NYSE: ED) to Buy from Hold as they believe the ALJ recommendation in the company's pending electric rate case indicates potential for an improving outlook.
- Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
- Smith & Nephew (NYSE: SNN) was upgraded at JP Morgan to Neutral from Underweight.
- Becton Dickinson (NYSE: BDX) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Analyst downgrades:
- Oppenheimer downgraded Bio-Reference Labs (NASDAQ: BRLI) to Perform from Outperform as they believe weaker volumes could pressure top-line growth in the near-term. The firm lowered their target to $25 from $30.
- Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) to Equal Weight from Overweight to reflect market deterioration as they find the risk/reward as balanced at current levels.
- JP Morgan cut Nestle (OTC: NSRGY) to Underweight from Neutral on concerns the company's 2009 revenue will miss consensus estimates due to market share losses.
- Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) and Anglo American (NASDAQ: AAUK) were lowered to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
PepsiAmericas (NYSE: PAS) was downgraded at Goldman to Sell from Neutral.
Stephens downgraded Home Bancshares (NASDAQ: HOMB) to Equal Weight from Overweight.
Analyst initiations:
- Kaufman Bros. initiated Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) with a Buy rating and $45 target. The firm is positive on the company's acquisition and integration of EDS and is modeling for above consensus EPS estimates.
- Oppenheimer assumed Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) with a Perform rating and $47 target and believes weaker volumes from the current recession could pressure top line growth in the near-term.
- Raymond James (NYSE: RJF) was started at Friedman Billings with a Market Perform rating and $19 target. The firm expects the company's banking and private client businesses to grow more slowly than in recent years given the current economic environment.
- JMP Securities assumed CommVault (NASDAQ: CVLT) with an Outperform rating and $16 target.
- Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) and Alpha Natural (NYSE: ANR) were initiated with Hold ratings and targets of $22 and $23, respectively, at Citigroup.
Tags: AAUK, ACI, ALU, ANR, BDX, BRLI, CVLT, DGX, ED, HOMB, HPQ, MDRX, MSM, NSRGY, PAS, RJF, RTP, SNN
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