Analyst upgrades:- Keefe Bruyette upgraded American Capital (NASDAQ: AGNC) to Outperform from Market Perform on expectations the company's book value and earnings are trending higher. The firm raised its target price to $22.
- Jefferies upgraded Spartan Stores (NASDAQ: SPTN) to Buy from Hold as it believes the company's EPS and sales momentum will return with the Michigan economy likely bottoming out. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered its target price to $18 from $24.
- Morgan Stanley upgraded U.S. Steel (X) to Overweight from Equal Weight due to its favorable product mix and leverage to improving operating rates.
- CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
- Mueller Water (NYSE: MWA) was raised to Perform from Underperform at Oppenheimer.
- Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) was upgraded to Outperform from Underperform at JMP Securities.
Analyst downgrades:
- Citigroup downgraded Hartford Financial (NYSE: HIG) to Hold from Buy to reflect a lack of catalysts and management turnover concerns. The firm lowered its target price on shares to $19 from $21.
- Morgan Stanley downgraded Nucor (NYSE: NUE) to Equal Weight from Overweight based on relative valuation.
- Canaccord downgraded Baldor Electric (NYSE: BEZ) to Hold from Speculative Buy based on valuation and a worsening outlook.
- Goldcorp (NYSE: GG) was cut to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
- Mindray Medical (NYSE: MR) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman.
- Jabil Circuit (NYSE: JBL) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
- Kaufman Bros. initiated Ciber (NYSE: CBR) with a Hold rating and $4 target. The firm believes upside may be limited in Ciber shares until the company posts better operating margins and free cash flow.
- Keefe Bruyette expects Broadpoint Capital's (NASDAQ: BPSG) earnings and revenue to increase following recent acquisitions. Shares were started with an Outperform rating and $7 target.
- State Street (NYSE: STT) was initiated with an Outperform rating and $59 target at Bernstein.
- RiskMetrics (NYSE: RMG) was assumed at Baird with a Neutral rating and $18 target.
- Immucor (NASDAQ: BLUD) was initiated with a Market Perform rating at Leerink.
- CarMax (NYSE: KMX) was initiated with a Neutral rating at JPMorgan.
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