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Earlier analyst calls (MS) (GS) (LEH)

Citigroup increased its estimates for losses at Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Lehman (NYSE: LEH), and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), according to MarketWatch.

Piper Jaffray downgraded Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) to Neutral from Buy, according to Briefing.com. The news service also reported that Bank of America intiated Amerigroup (NYSE: AGP ) at Neutral.

Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS) was cut to Sell at Citigroup, according to 24/7 Wall St.

Analyst downgrades: COGN, MSM, FAST, KPN and KOP

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Cognos, MSC Industrial Direct, Fastenal Company, Royal Kpn and Koppers Holdings were today's noteworthy downgrades:
  • Cognos (NASDAQ: COGN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman and at Broadpoint following the acquisition by IBM (NYSE: IBM).
  • Baird downgraded MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE: MSM) and Fastenal Company (NASDAQ: FAST) to Neutral from Outperform, as they expect the difficult U.S. manufacturing environment to constrain shares.
  • Credit Suisse lowered its rating on Royal Kpn (NYSE: KPN) to Neutral from Outperform based on Getronics integration risk and slowing mobile earnings momentum.
  • Koppers Holdings (NYSE: KOP) was downgraded to Buy from Aggressive Buy at KeyBanc based on valuation and concerns on 1H08 comps.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:

Analyst upgrades 9-10-07: U.S. food industry, MYL, AGP and ISLE

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The U.S. food industry, Mylan Labs, Amerigroup and Isle of Capri were today's noteworthy upgrades:
  • BMO Capital upgraded the U.S. food industry sector to Outperform from Market Perform to reflect the group's defensive nature, the recent valuation contraction, and predictable earnings growth. General Mills (NYSE: GIS) is the firm's top pick in packaged food, and they raised Kellogg Company's (NYSE: K) target to $59 and Kraft Foods' (NYSE: KFT) to $36.
  • Credit Suisse upgraded Mylan Laboratories (NYSE: MYL) to Outperform Underperform, as the firm believes investors are "too negative" on the Merck transaction. The firm said the company is well-positioned long-term to be a leader in the global generics industry.
  • Credit Suisse also upgraded shares of Amerigroup Corporation (NYSE: AGP) to Outperform from Underperform, as they believe the company is poised for better than expected margin improvement in 2007 and 2008.
  • Isle of Capri Casinos Inc's (NASDAQ: ISLE) rating was upped to Buy from Hold at Morgan Joseph, citing indications of progress in the company's turnaround.
OTHER UPGRADES:

Analyst upgrades: BUD, CBS, DRI and JBHT

MOST NOTEWORTHY: J.B. Hunt Transport (JBHT), Gold Fields (GFI), Anheuser-Busch (BUD), CBS Corp (CBS) and Amerigroup (AGP) were today's noteworthy upgrades:
  • Wachovia upgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport (NASDAQ: JBHT) to Outperform from Market Perform citing strength in the company's Intermodal franchise.
  • Matrix USA upgraded Gold Fields (NYSE: GFI) to Buy from Sell, citing the strong demand for gold jewelry from affluent customers in developing markets and investors.
  • AG Edwards upgraded Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD) to Buy from Hold based on valuation and improving fundamentals.
  • CBS Corp (NYSE: CBS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at SMH Capital based on expectations for CBS to continue to increase its annual dividend 10% a year.
  • Jefferies is more confident in Amerigroup's (NYSE: AGP) ability to see further medical cost improvements in its GA market and it its TN expansion, upgrading shares to Buy from Hold...
OTHER UPGRADES:
  • Goldman upgraded Micron Tech (NYSE: MU) and Novellus Systems (NVLS) to Neutral from Sell.
  • BMO Capital upgraded National City (NYSE: NCC) to Market Perform from Underperform.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Amerigroup Corporation: Managed healthcare for the public sector

Access to quality healthcare is one of the important social issues of the day. There is a Virginia Beach outfit that works to facilitate the process for low-income Americans.

Amerigroup Corporation (NYSE: AGP) improves healthcare access and quality for low-income Americans, by developing innovative managed health services for the public sector. The firm targets people eligible for Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, FamilyCare, and Special Needs Plans. It contracts with about 63,000 primary care doctors and specialists to serve more than 1.5 million members in the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

The company pleased investors last week, when it reported Q2 EPS of 61 cents and revenues of $1 billion. Analysts had been expecting 46 cents and $920 million. Management also guided FY07 EPS to $2.00-2.10 ($1.89 consensus).

Continue reading Amerigroup Corporation: Managed healthcare for the public sector

Analyst downgrades 4-30-07: ADBE, AMZN, AGP and POT

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Amazon.com, Inc (AMZN), WellCare Health Plans, Inc (WCG) and agricultural chemical stocks were today's more noteworthy downgrades:
  • BWS Financial downgraded Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) to Hold from Buy citing valuation.
  • Jefferies cut WellCare Health Plans Inc (NYSE: WCG) to Underperform from Hold and lowered their target to $69 from $80 as the firm believes higher-than-expected medical costs in Georgia will put significant pressure on earnings.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
  • Keefe Bruyette downgraded Federated Investors, Inc (NYSE: FII) to Market Perform from Outperform citing the potential impact from Bank of New York Co (BK)/ Mellon Financial Corp (MEL) transactions.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+73.0010,270.47
NASDAQ+18.862,167.88
S&P 500+6.241,093.48

Last updated: November 14, 2009: 03:43 PM

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