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Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ANF, AZN, BX, GPS, PH, RAIL, VRSN ...

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Analyst upgrades:

  • Keefe Bruyette upgraded Blackstone Group (BX) to outperform from market perform following the company's Q3 results and maintains an $18.50 price target on shares.
  • Baird upgraded Astec (ASTE) to outperform from neutral citing relative valuation and upside from new multi-year U.S. highway funding legislation. The firm raised its target to $33 from $27.
  • Goldman upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to conviction buy from neutral citing "significant" long-term growth drivers that include international growth. The firm raised its target to $45 from $36.
  • Ariad Pharmaceuticals (ARIA) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Energizer (ENR) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
  • AstraZeneca (AZN) was upgraded to buy from hold at RBS.

Analyst downgrades:

  • Stephens downgraded FreightCar America (RAIL) to equal weight from overweight to reflect a lack of new car orders and lowered its price target on shares to $20 from $30.
  • Goldman downgraded Verisign (VRSN) to sell from neutral and cut its target to $22 from $25 citing lofty margin expectations and legal overhang from the antitrust suit.
  • AstraZeneca (AZN) was downgraded to underweight from neutral at JPMorgan on concerns over earnings growth.
  • Intrepid Potash (IPI) was downgraded to sector perform from outperform at RBC Capital.
  • Scripps Networks (SNI) was downgraded to hold from buy at Wunderlich.
  • Gap (GPS) was downgraded to equal weight from overweight at Barclays.

Analyst initiations:

  • Parker-Hannifin (PH) and Stone Energy (SGY) were initiated with equal weight ratings at Barclays and a $57 target and $23 target, respectively.
  • Select Medical (SEM) was initiated with an outperform rating and $13 target at RBC Capital.
  • Webster Financial (WBS) coverage was resumed with a neutral rating and $13 target at JPMorgan.
  • Global Payments (GPN) was initiated with a buy rating at BofA/Merrill.
  • BioSante Pharma (BPAX) was assumed at Rodman & Renshaw with an outperform rating and $4 target.

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Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA-14.2810,318.16
NASDAQ-10.782,146.04
S&P 500-3.521,091.38

Last updated: November 20, 2009: 05:39 PM

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