Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ED, RTN, ALU, NSRGY, RTP, HPQ ...

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.