Analyst Upgrades

• Tyson Foods (TSN) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Carmike Cinemas (CKEC) to buy from neutral at Merriman.
• Ambow Education (AMBO) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Johnson Controls (JCI) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Dynex Capital (DX) to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• Ensco (ESV) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• York Water (YORW) to buy from hold at Brean Murray.
• Mid-America Apartment (MAA) to market perform from underperform at FBR Capital.
• Cheniere Energy Partners (CQP) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Forest Oil (FST) to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
• Tractor Supply (TSCO) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: DISH, DTV, JCI, LULU, MOS, MTN, POT, RIG, TSCO, TSN ...

Analyst Calls: DISH, DTV, JCI, LULU, MOS, MTN, POT, RIG, TSCO, TSN ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Mar 2011 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• DuPont (DD) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• UBS upgraded Deere (DE) to buy from neutral and AGCO (AGCO) to neutral from sell.
• Canadian Solar (CSIQ) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Thoratec (THOR) and DTE Energy (DTE) were upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• NICE Systems (NICE) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at HSBC.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Copa Holdings (CPA) to buy from hold.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Nu Skin (NUS) to buy from neutral.
• Continental Resources (CLR) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: CLR, CSIQ, DD, DE, DECK, EMC, EMN, WFMI, WWW ...

Analyst Calls: CLR, CSIQ, DD, DE, DECK, EMC, EMN, WFMI, WWW ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Jefferies upgraded Computer Sciences (CSC) to buy from hold and raised its target to $53 from $47. The analyst said Computer Sciences' valuation has created one of the best LBO opportunities in several years and could provide a five year IRR of 25+%.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Comerica (CMA) to outperform from market perform, citing strength of the company's capital. The firm raised its target for shares to $44 from $43.
• RBC Capital upgraded Nokia (NOK) to outperform from sector perform and raised its price target to $14 from $12. The firm upgraded shares based on valuation, reduced execution risk on software development, and potential catalysts from new devices based on Symbian^3. RBS upgraded Nokia to buy from hold after the company named Stephen Elop as CEO.
• Allstate (ALL) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Moody's (MCO) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BCR, BUD, CLX, CMA, CSC, CSCO, DELL, LEN, MCO, NOK, TRV ...

Analyst Calls: BCR, BUD, CLX, CMA, CSC, CSCO, DELL, LEN, MCO, NOK, TRV ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you are looking for clues telling you which stocks have a good chance of increasing in value, you might want consider watching what insiders are doing. After all, talk is cheap, but when insiders put their own money on the line, you should sit up and take note.

Calumet Specialty Products Partners L P (CLMT) topped the insider-buying charts for the week ending July 9th as insiders snapped up 775,000 shares of company stock at a market value of $13,678,750. During the past six months, insiders have increased their overall holdings in the company by 0.37% and now own 53.69% of CLMT stock.

Alliance Healthcare Services Inc (AIQ) was not far behind, with insiders buying 450,000 shares at a market value of $2,024,250. Insiders now own 6.23% of the company's stock.

Continue reading Insiders Snapping Up Calumet Specialty Products, Alliance Healthcare and More

Insiders Snapping Up Calumet Specialty Products, Alliance Healthcare and More originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Dreamworks (DWA) to overweight from neutral following the company's Q2 results. The firm also raised its target for shares to $38 from $30.
• Stephens upgraded Global Payments (GPN) with a $50 price target following the company's Q4 results. Note, shares were downgraded this morning at Janney Montgomery.
• BMO Capital upgraded Carrizo Oil & Gas (CRZO) to outperform from market perform, citing the company's planned exploration activity. The firm raised its price target to $27 from $23.
• eHealth (EHTH) was upgraded to perform from underperform at Oppenheimer and to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• NASDAQ OMX (NDAQ) was upgraded to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
• C.H. Robinson (CHRW) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ACL, CLR, COF, CRZO, DWA, GPN, MOTR, NDAQ, OMI, ONE ...

Analyst Calls: ACL, CLR, COF, CRZO, DWA, GPN, MOTR, NDAQ, OMI, ONE ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The focus of last week's preview was on oil and energy companies, and we saw that big oil had a good week, reporting better-than-expected results and record profits driven by high prices in the third quarter. Energy-related companies are well represented again this week and expectations in general remain high.

Early in the week, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial anticipate that the big earnings gainers will include EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), and Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC), which are expected to post profits of $2.24 per share (up 64.7% from a year ago), $1.48 per share (up 52.7%) and $2.26 per share (up 61.1%) respectively. All three of them have offered positive surprises in recent quarters, and analysts on average recommend buying EOG and Anadarko. Other expected big earnings gainers early in the week include Forest Oil Corp. (NYSE: FST), Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD), Comstock Resources Inc. (NYSE: CRK), and MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA). The earnings of phosphates producer Innophos Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: IPHS) are expected to have risen 92.3% to $3.37 per share. Innophos beat estimates in the previous quarter by a whopping 210%, and analysts have been impressed with Innophos's lack of debt and pricing gains despite the slowing economy, so, on average, they recommend buying IPHS.

Also early in the week, analysts expect Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT), Kaiser Aluminum Corp. (NASDAQ: KALU), and Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE: OSK) to report that their profits fell 52.9% to $0.33 per share, 45.1% to $0.67 per share, and 41.2% to $0.67 per share, respectively. These companies have tended to beat estimates in recent quarters, and the consensus recommendations of analysts are to buy them. However, PMI Group Inc. (NYSE: PMI), one of the largest private mortgage insurance providers in the U.S., is expected to take another hit as the housing slump drags on. The California-based company is expected to have widened its net loss from $1.04 per share a year ago to $2.43 per share in the most recent quarter. Its shares are down 84.5% from a year ago, and have been trading recently near their 52-week low.

Continue reading The week in preview: Expectations remain high for energy and oil

The week in preview: Expectations remain high for energy and oil originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Wachovia downgraded Lehman (NYSE: LEH) to Market Perform from Outperform citing the larger capital raise, poorly marked assets, and lack of confidence.
  
• Jefferies downgraded PNM Resources (NYSE: PNM) to Hold from Buy citing valuation and lower contribution from the company's First Choice supply subsidiary.
  
• Hilb, Rogal and Hobbs (NYSE: HRH) was cut at Davenport to Neutral from Buy following the acquisition by Willis Group Holdings (NYSE: WSH).

• Merrill lowered Fortis (OTC: FORSY) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Continental Resources (NYSE: CLR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  
• Calyon downgraded Helmerich and Payne (NYSE: HP) to Neutral from Add.

Analyst downgrades: LEH, PNM and HRH originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Merriman believes GSI Technology Inc (NASDAQ: GSIT) is positioned to benefit as growing bandwidth demand and increasingly complex protocols drive the need for faster and higher density memory in networking equipment. The firm started shares with a Buy rating.
• Array Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ: ARRY) was assumed with an Outperform rating at William Blair. The firm thinks the company's pipeline contains significant value, which will be catalyzed over the next 12-18 months by continued clinical progress and potential partnerships.
• Continental Resources Inc (NYSE: CLR) was initiated with a Buy rating and $30 target at Jefferies, and points to the company's double-digit growth and strong reserve growth potential.

• Lehman initiated Ventas Inc (NYSE: VTR) with an Equal Weight rating $46 target and HCP Inc (NYSE: HCP) with an Overweight rating.
• The Boston Beer Company Inc (NYSE: SAM) was assumed with an Overweight rating and $43 target at HSBC.

Analyst initiations: GSIT, ARRY and CLR originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Feb 2008 10:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Continental Resources: Searching for geysers on the American continent

Continental Resources: Searching for geysers on the American continent originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 05 Feb 2008 18:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Piper Jaffray started CAI International (NYSE: CAP) with an Outperform rating and $18 target, believing the company is well positioned to capitalize on global trade growth. Jefferies started CAI Int'l with a Buy rating and $17 target.

• CRT Capital believes ATS Corp's (NASDAQ: ATCT) risks are offset by positive long-term fundamentals of the federal IT services sector and the company's experienced management team and started shares with a Buy rating and $5 target.

• Pacific Crest started Logitech International (NASDAQ: LOGI) with a Sector Perform rating based on valuation.

• ThinkEquity believes that Wireless Ronin Technologies (NASDAQ: RNIN) is exposed to one of the biggest open-ended growth opportunities in digital media today with its RoninCast application and started shares with a Buy rating...

• Leerink Swann started Insulet Corp (NASDAQ: PODD) with an Outperform rating.

• Goldman started Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS) with a Neutral.

• Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan started Continental Resources (NYSE: CLR) with an Overweight rating, while Merrill Lynch started Continental Resources with a Buy rating.

Analyst initiations 6-25-07: CAP, CLR, ESS and LOGI originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 25 Jun 2007 11:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.