Analyst Upgrades- McAdams Wright expects Dendreon's (NASDAQ: DNDN) near-term momentum to continue but has long-term concerns that Street estimates are too high. The firm upgraded shares to Hold from Sell.
- JPMorgan upgraded Ameristar Casinos (NASDAQ: ASCA) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect valuation, potential catalysts from Colorado's easing gaming regulations, and the company's strong free cash flow. The firm raised its target on shares to $24 from $20.
- Citigroup upgraded Valspar (NYSE: VAL) to Hold from Sell after channel checks indicated paint demand is shifting to big-box retailers, the company's primary sales channel. The firm raised its target on shares to $22 from $19.
- Vulcan Materials (NYSE: VMC) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
- Altera (NASDAQ: ALTR) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital.
- Spectra Energy (NYSE: SEP) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
Analyst Downgrades
- FBR Capital downgraded Progressive (N YSE: PGR) to Market Perform from Outperform on valuation, preferring Allstate (NYSE: ALL) in the personal lines space. The firm lowered its price target on Progressive to $17 from $19.
- Deutsche Bank downgraded CarMax (NYSE: KMX) to Hold from Buy on valuation but raised its target on shares to $17 from $15.
- Morgan Stanley downgraded Grupo Aeroportuario ( NYSE: ASR) to Underperform from Equal Weight.
- Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE; ALU) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Banc of America/Merrill.
- Methanex (NASDAQ: MEOH) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James.
- Plains All American (NYSE: PAA) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman.
- Cowen views BJ's Wholesale (NYSE: BJ) valuation as attractive and believes the company is positioned to gain share. The firm started shares with an Outperform rating.
- Banc of America/Merrill initiated Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) with a Buy rating and $32 target and expects Campbell's growth to resume in 2010.
- ThinkEquity initiated RF Micro Devices (NASDAQ: RFMD) with a Buy rating. The firm continues to believe that the China handset market is strong and that RF Micro is seeing strength at Nokia (NYSE: NOK).
- Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX) was initiated with a Buy rating and $100 target at Morgan Joseph.
- Central Pacific Financial (NYSE: CPF) was initiated with a Buy rating and $8 target at B. Riley.
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