Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BHP, MRK, LUV, MA, AAUK ...
Posted Jan 23rd 2009 11:15AM by Eric Buscemi
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, MasterCard Inc'A' (MA), Southwest Airlines (LUV), Merck and Co (MRK), Analyst Initiations, BHP Billiton Ltd ADR (BHP)
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Analyst upgrades:
- ING believes BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) will grow through acquisitions and is in a good position relative to peers. Shares were upgraded to Buy from Hold.
- KeyBanc upgraded Kaman (NASDAQ: KAMN) to Buy from Hold based on valuation, higher foreign 2009 sales, and exposure to the military helicopter market, among other reasons.
- Merck (NYSE: MRK) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Banc of Amerca/Merrill on valuation.
- J Crew (JCG) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette.
- UBS upgraded Expeditors (NASDAQ: EXPD) to Neutral from Sell.
- CVB Financial (NASDAQ: CVBF) was raised to Hold from Sell at Sandler O'Neill.
Analyst downgrades:
- Morgan Stanley downgraded Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) to Equal Weight from Overweight and lowered their target to $25 from $26 based on valuation and high Street estimates given lower oil prices and weaker currency.
- CIBC downgraded Louisiana Pacific (NYSE: LPX) to Sector Performer from Outperformer. The analyst believes LPX may have to issue equity at these depressed levels given the tight credit markets and ongoing cash losses.
- Calyon downgraded Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) to Sell from Underperform and lowered their target to $7 from $8. The firm recommends taking profits in Southwest due to unit cost challenges given slowing growth and its reduced fuel hedging program.
- CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein.
- Keefe Bruyette downgraded shares of Amcore Financial (NASDAQ: AMFI) to Market Perform from Outperform.
- Anglo American (NASDAQ: AAUK) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Royal Bank of Scotland.
Analyst initiations:
- Citigroup believes MasterCard (NYSE: MA) is vulnerable to the consumer spending slowdown and expects a more cautious outlook from management when the company reports earnings. Shares were initiated with a Sell rating and $110 target.
- Janney Montgomery initiated GameStop (NYSE: GME) with a Buy rating and $34.50 target and expects GameStop to benefit from the secular growth in gaming, potential hardware cuts, international expansion, and 2009 title visibility.
- Jefferies assumed Chicago Bridge & Iron (NYSE: CBI) with a Hold rating and $13 target and expects shares to be range-bound until the company shows progress on project execution and margin performance.
- Gran Tierra Energy (GTE) was initiated at Wunderlich with a Buy rating.
- Coverage of CME Group (AMEX: CME) was resumed with an Underweight rating at JP Morgan.
- Shanda (NASDAQ: SNDA) was initiated with a Hold rating and $30 target at Roth Capital.
Tags: AAUK, AMFI, BHP, CBI, CME, CVBF, EXPD, GME, KAMN, LPX, LUV, MA, MRK, PBR, SNDA
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