MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Societe Generale upgraded shares of Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) to Buy from Hold as they believe pipeline maturation over the next 12 months can drive the stock higher.
  
• Piper upgraded shares of Lifecell (NASDAQ: LIFC) to Outperform from Market Perform after their recent survey indicated that AlloDerm remains the leading biologic hernia mesh on the market and competition is making little headway.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded Mylan Labs (NYSE: MYL), Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA) and Norsk Hydro (NYSE: NHY) to Overweight from Neutral. The firm upgraded Mylan based on its position in the global generics market and above-average growth; Panera was upgraded on valuation, as they believe the recent operating risk is now behind the company; Norsk Hydro was upgraded, as they believe the value of the company's aluminum assets are higher than the current share price suggests.

• HSBC upgraded Ride Aid (NYSE: RAD) to Neutral from Underweight.
  
• UBS upgraded Standard Pacific (NYSE: SPF) and Ciena (NASDAQ: CIEN) to Neutral from Sell and Sherwin-Williams (NYSE: SHW) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Goldman added Cytec Industries (NYSE: CYT) to its Conviction Buy List.

Analyst upgrades: SNY, LIFC, MYL, PNRA and NHY originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Oct 2007 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Banc of America upgraded shares of General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) to Neutral from Sell as they believe the agreement with the United Auto Workers union offsets a worsening outlook for sales.
  
• Piper Jaffray upgraded shares of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NASDAQ: GMCR) to Outperform from Market Perform after a meeting with management as they believe shares offer a compelling buying opportunity at current levels based on their 2009 estimates.
  
• JMP Securities upgraded shares of Orexigen Therapeutics (NASDAQ: OREX) to Strong Buy from Market Outperform as they believe the company's lead product candidates, Empatic and Contrave, could become front-line therapies for obesity due to improved durability of efficacy, increased safety and tolerability, and lack of addiction.
  
• Norsk Hydro (NYSE: NHY) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup. The firm sees upside in the stock from the volume growth and further improvements in downstream operations.

• Lehman upgraded Temple Inland (NYSE TIN) to Overweight from Equal Weight.
  
• Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
  
• HSBC upgraded ENI SpA (NYSE: E) to Overweight from Neutral.
  
• Nollenberger raised shares of Symyx Technologies (NASDAQ: SMMX) to Buy from Neutral.

Analyst upgrades: GM, GMCR, OREX and NHY originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Oct 2007 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• BMO Capital downgraded shares of Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE: D) to Market Perform from Outperform citing the sale proceeds for its onshore U.S. E&P properties that were below expectations.
• Digene Corp. (NASDAQ: DIGE) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Ferris Baker Watts based on the acquisition by Qiagen (NASDAQ: QGEN). Digene was also downgraded at SummerStreet to Neutral from Buy, as the firm views the Qiagen's acquisition for $1.6B as reasonable.
• Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan, as the firm sees better value in traditional credit-exposed banks.

• Norsk Hydro (NYSE: NHY) and BP PLC (NYSE: BP) were downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
• Quiksilver Inc. (NYSE: ZQK) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W Baird due to valuation.
  
• Banc of America downgraded shares of SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI) to Neutral from Buy on valuation as they believe further sales of Coke may not be very accretive to EPS.
• LifePoint Hospitals Inc. (NASDAQ: LPNT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies based on valuation.
• Clear Channel Outdoors Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CCO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at DBAB on valuation.
• Matrix USA downgraded shares of Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) to Hold from Buy to reflect rising costs and lower enrollment rates.
• Matrix also downgraded True Religion Apparel Inc. (NASDAQ: TRLG) to Hold from Buy on valuation.

Analyst downgrades 6-4-07: BP, DB, D ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Jun 2007 11:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at AG Edwards to reflect the strong April quarter results.
• Boyd Gaming Corp. (NYSE: BYD) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia due to ongoing improvement in the locals business through revenue growth and cost reductions, expected benefits at Borgata from the summer season, and a new hotel tower at the property.
• OmniVision Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at American Technology and to Buy from Neutral at Merriman to reflect the company's improved revenue and gross margin outlook.

• Universal Compression Partners (NASDAQ: UCLP) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at AG Edwards, as the firm believes the potential for additional asset acquisitions creates likely upside to estimates.
• UBS upgraded shares of Norsk Hydro (NYSE: NHY) to Buy from Neutral and shares of Lear (LEA) to Neutral from Reduce.
• Cowen upgraded VistaCare Inc. (NASDAQ: VSTA) to Outperform from Neutral and added shares to the firm's Focus List. Cowen believes the company's decision to review strategic alternatives will unlock value.
• Matrix USA upgraded shares of Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) to Sell from Strong Sell based on valuation.
• CHLM upgraded shares of 3D Systems Corp. (NASDAQ: TDSC) to Accumulate from Neutral.
• Cantor upgraded shares of NMS Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: NMSS) to Buy from Hold on potential restructuring benefits.

Analysts upgrades 6-1-07: Dell, WFMI, Boyd Gaming originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 Jun 2007 11:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that CDW Corporation (NASDAQ: CDWC), a $6B market cap technology retailer, is being hotly pursued by a number of private equity firms including Madison Dearborn Partners.
• Avaya Inc (NYSE: AV), a telecommunications equipment maker, is said to be interested in selling all or part of the company, and is in talks with private equity firms and strategically interested companies, the Wall Street Journal also reported.

• Dr. Ronald Krall, the medical director for GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE: GSK) told the New York Times that some of the 4,450 patients enrolled in the drug trial for Avandia have dropped out due to safety concerns
• Norsk Hydro ASA (NYSE: NHY) is looking at the possibility of making an offer for Canadian aluminum producer Alcan Inc (NYSE: AL), Globe and Mail reported.
• The Sydney Morning Herald reported that mining company Rio Tinto plc (NYSE: RTP) has hired Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) to advise it on a possible bid for Alcan.

• According to a report from Chinese-language Commercial Times and noted in DigiTimes, Quanta Computer has reportedly received an order for five million iPhones from Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) and that the 2nd generation device will offer "a different outer design to fit different markets."

Newspaper wrap-up 5-29-07: CDW Corporation being pursued by private-equity originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 May 2007 09:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.