Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: LEN, RDC, FFIN, SII, AN, ACHN, UA, LULU, JST

Posted May 18th 2009 10:30AM by Laurie PasternackLaurie Pasternack RSS Feed
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Brinker Intl (EAT), Allegheny Energy (AYE), AutoNation Inc (AN), Dean Foods (DF), Morgan Stanley (MS), Under Armour'A' (UA), Analyst Initiations

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Analyst upgrades:
  • Citigroup upgraded Lennar (NYSE: LEN) to Buy from Hold as it believes the company's near-term liquidity profile is improved following the $400M debt issuance. The firm raised its target price to $12 from $11.
  • Jefferies upgraded Rowan Companies (NYSE: RDC) to Buy from Hold as it believes jack-up drillers will continue to outperform deepwater names. The firm raised its target price to $27 from $20.
  • Keefe Bruyette upgraded First Financial (NASDAQ: FFIN) to Market Perform from Underperform to reflect more positive loan data for the Texas banks. The firm raised its target price on shares to $44 from $38.
  • MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
  • Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities.
  • Brinker (NYSE: EAT) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
Analyst downgrades:
  • Jefferies downgraded Smith International (NYSE: SII) to Hold from Buy on valuation and concerns the WHQ acquisition will be a headwind for near-term growth. The firm has a $30 target on the stock.
  • Goldman downgraded AutoNation (NYSE: AN) to Sell from Neutral based on valuation and lack of operating leverage versus peers. The firm has a $14 target on shares.
  • JMP Securities downgraded Achillion (NASDAQ: ACHN) to Underperform from Market Perform following Gilead's (NASDAQ: GILD) decision to return back the rights to GS-9252/ACH-1095.
  • Applied Micro Circuits (NASDAQ: AMCC) was cut to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Anglogold (NYSE: AU) was lowered to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
  • Allegheny Energy (NYSE: AYE) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wachovia.

Analyst initiations:
  • KeyBanc initiated Under Armour (NYSE: UA) and Lululemon (NASDAQ: LULU) with Hold ratings based on valuation.
  • Roth Capital initiated Jinpan International (NASDAQ: JST) with a Buy rating and $36 target. The firm believes the buildout of China's electrical infrastructure and global deployment of wind power will be growth drivers for Jinpan.
  • J. Crew (NYSE: JCG) was initiated with a Buy rating and $24 target at Piper Jaffray.
  • Dean Foods (NYSE: DF) was started at Banc of America/Merrill with a Buy rating and $23 target.

Tags: Achillion, ACHN, Allegheny Energy, AlleghenyEnergy, AMCC, AN, Anglogold, Applied Micro, AppliedMicro, AU, AutoNation, AYE, Brinker, brinker international, BrinkerInternational, Dean Foods, DeanFoods, DF, EAT, FFIN, First Financial, FirstFinancial, GILD, gilead, gilead sciences, GileadSciences, j. crew, J.Crew, JCG, Jinpan International, JinpanInternational, JST, LEN, Lennar, MGM, MGM Mirage, MgmMirage, Morgan Stanley, MorganStanley, MS, RDC, Rowan Companies, RowanCompanies, SII, Smith International, SmithInternational, UA, Under Armour, UnderArmour

Symbol Lookup
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DJIA+150.2510,058.64
NASDAQ+24.822,150.87
S&P 500+13.781,070.52

Last updated: February 10, 2010: 07:10 AM

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