Analyst Upgrades
- Merriman upgraded Regal Entertainment (NYSE: RGC) to Buy from Neutral as the analyst is less concerned about Q2 box office performance following the Transformers 2 opening weekend.
- Baird upgraded Ball (NYSE: BLL) to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to $52 from $46 citing cost cutting initiatives, a volume trough in Q1, and expected earnings growth.
- Morgan Stanley upgraded JCPenney (NYSE: JCP) to Overweight from Equal Weight. The firm cites valuation and gross margin opportunity for the upgrade. The firm has a $35 target on shares.
- KB Home (NYSE: KBH) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
- Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Wachovia.
- Lloyds Banking (NYSE: LYG) was upgraded to Conviction Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
Analyst Downgrades
- FBR Capital downgraded Alcoa (NYSE: AA) to Underperform from Market Perform on valuation following the recent rally and concerns the aluminum market is structurally oversupplied. The firm raised its target on shares to $8.50 from $8.
- Citigroup downgraded Watson Wyatt (NYSE: WW) to Hold from Buy following the merger announcement with Towers, Perrin, Forster & Crosby.
- JPMorgan downgraded Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) to Neutral from Overweight to reflect uncertainty surrounding the company's diabetes drug Lantus.
- Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
- Healthways (NASDAQ: HWAY) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman.
Analyst Initiations
- SolarWinds (NYSE: SWI) was initiated with an Overweight rating by Thomas Weisel. The firm believes the company's comprehensive, easy-to-use, and affordable products will allow it to successfully target SMBs and remote offices of large companies.
- Citigroup initiated OpenTable (NASDAQ: OPEN) with a Hold rating and $34 target. The firm prefers to wait for a better entry point into OpenTable shares.
- Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $21 target at JPMorgan.
- Central European Media (NASDAQ: CETV) coverage was reinstated with a Buy rating and $21.70 target at Deutsche Bank.
- Homex (NYSE: HXM) was initiated with a Neutral rating at Goldman.
Closing Bell: When We All Love the PIIGS (NBG, SQNM, PG, ERTS, KO)
Serious Money: Cheapest Stocks List Shrinks from 26 to 21
Chasing Value: Hasbro Earnings Makes My Point
