AJG posts
FeedPosted Jan 6th 2009 11:10AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Analyst initiations
.gif)
Analyst upgrades:
- Merriman upgraded shares of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) to Neutral from Sell as they believe consensus estimates for Q4 and FY09 are no longer too high. In addition, the firm believes Google's slowing capex spend will improve margins and their recent channel checks indicate the company's ad coverage has increased significantly during Q4.
- Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Outperform from Perform following yesterday's disclosures regarding Steve Jobs' health. The firm has a $135 price target on Apple shares.
- UBS upgraded BMC Software (NYSE: BMC) to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $31 from $28 citing easier booking comps in the March quarter.
- YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ: YRCW) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Wachovia.
- Goldman removed Hewitt (NYSE: HEW) from its Conviction Sell List.
Analyst downgrades:
- Stephens downgraded Emergency Medical Services (NYSE: EMS) to Equal Weight from Overweight on valuation, as they believe the stock is fairly valued at current levels. The firm maintains a $39 price target.
- Merriman downgraded Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI) to Neutral from Buy after Super Micro pre-announced a Q2 miss to reflect the company's "challenging" outlook.
- Baird downgraded Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG) to Neutral from Outperform citing Revlimid growth concerns following their most recent survey and potential pressures on the European business and on Thalomid.
- Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) was lowered to Market Perform from Outperform at Leerink.
- Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) was cut at Goldman to Neutral from Buy.
- Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.
Analyst initiations:
- Merriman believes Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI) is well-positioned to benefit from the upgrade to Advanced Metering Infrastructure by tier one utilities and finds the stock attractively valued. Shares were initiated with a Neutral rating.
- Oppenheimer assumed Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL) with a Perform rating and expects the company's growth to slow in 2009 given global credit concerns and the economic slowdown.
- Citigroup started Telmex (NYSE: TMX) with a Sell rating and $15 target. The firm believes the company's inability to offer 3-play services could lead to accelerated market share loss in 2009.
- Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) was initiated at Janney Montgomery with a Neutral rating and $31 fair value estimate.
- Arthur J. Gallagher (NYSE: AJG) was initiated with a Neutral rating at Piper Jaffray.
- Jesup & Lamont assumed UTi Worldwide (NASDAQ: UTIW) with a Buy rating and $18 target.
Posted Aug 29th 2007 10:43AM by Kevin Shult (RSS feed)
Filed under: Before the bell, Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Bad news, Polo Ralph Lauren'A' (RL), Stocks to Sell
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Papa John's (PZZA), Wynn Resorts (WYNN), SourceForge (LNUX), Cathay Pacific (CPCAY) and Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG) were today's noteworthy downgrades:
- Matrix downgraded shares of Papa John's (NASDAQ: PZZA) to Hold from Strong Buy to reflect minimal improvement to fundamentals and negative free cash flow trends.
- Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN) was downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform based on valuation as the firm believes shares fully reflect solid Las Vegas & Macau fundamentals and the company's development pipeline.
- SourceForge (NASDAQ: LNUX) was cut to Underperform from Market perform at JMP Securities, with a $3 target, following the disappointing results.
- Arthur J. Gallagher (NYSE: AJG) was cut to Underperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns as they believe margin expansion will be lower than expected, softening insurance pricing will impact organic growth, and cites managements acquisition desires over aggressive repurchases...
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
- Morgan Stanley cut Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) to Underwieght from Overweight.
- JP Morgan downgraded Sonic (NASDAQ: SONC) to Neutral from Overweight.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).
Analyst Ugrades
Deere up on Q4 earnings performance
Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn will go public (at some point)
Retailers can't wait for Black Friday, open Thursday
