Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AAPL, ABX, MOT, RL, CLF
Posted Jan 15th 2009 11:26AM by Eric Buscemi
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Apple Inc (AAPL), Motorola (MOT), Analyst initiations
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Analyst upgrades:
- Oppenheimer upgraded AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) to Outperform from Perform on the company's strong branded drug price inflation, potential for greater than expected buybacks, and their belief that prescription volume growth will stabilize after Q1. The firm raised their target to $45 from $36.
- Baird upgraded Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) to Outperform from Neutral based on valuation following reaffirmed guidance.
- Goldman removed shares of Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) from its Conviction Sell List and upgraded it to Neutral from Sell based on valuation.
- Teppco Partners (NYSE:TPP) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.
- Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was raised to Buy from Hold at Canaccord.
- Coca Cola Femsa (NYSE: KOF)) was upgraded at Morgan Stanley to Overweight from Equal Weight.
Analyst downgrades:
- RBC Capital downgraded Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares to Underperform from Sector Perform and lowered their target to $70 from $125 following the announcement that CEO Steve Jobs is taking a medical leave of absence. The analyst expects shares to be pressured by reduced earnings growth expectations and near-term leadership uncertainty.
- Barclays downgraded Motorola (NYSE:MOT) to Equal Weight from Overweight as they do not expect handset recovery for at least 6 to 9 months.
- Banc of America/Merrill downgraded Shire (NASDAQ:SHPGY) to Underperform from Buy based on earnings risk from the upcoming generic launch of Adderall XR.
- Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL) was added to Goldman's Conviction Sell List.
- Starent Networks (NASDAQ:STAR) and Ceragon Networks (NASDAQ:CRNT) were downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.
- Casella Waste (NASDAQ:CWST) was lowered at JP Morgan to Neutral from Overweight.
Analyst initiations:
- Citigroup initiated Cliffs Natural (NYSE:CLF) with a Buy rating and $43 target. The firm believes the company's multi-tier North American contract sales arrangements should allow it weather the volatility in the spot and seaborne markets and the firm expects volumes to improve in Q2.
- ING started Arcelor Mittal (NYSE:MT) with a Sell rating and believes the economic slowdown will have a greater than expected impact on the steel industry.
- Friedman Billings believes weakness in M&T Bank's (NYSE:MTB) regional economy could hinder the company's growth prospects and the firm is concerned about the bank's concentration in commercial and industrial loans. The firm has an Underperform rating and $30 target on the stock.
- S&T Bancorp (NASDAQ:STBA) was initiated with a Market Perform rating at Keefe Bruyette.
- RBC Capital initiated Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) with a Sector Perform rating and $61 target.
Tags: aapl, abc, abx, clf, crnt, cwst, dltr, kof, mot, mt, mtb, nsc, rcl, shpgy, star, stba, tpp
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