MOST NOTEWORTHY: Lloyds TSB Group, OmniVision and National Instruments were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Credit Suisse downgraded shares of Lloyds TSB Group (NYSE: LYG) to Underperform from Neutral as they see greater mortgage risk and capital issues.
  
• Oppenheimer cut OmniVision (NASDAQ: OVTI) to Perform from Outperform to reflect challenging conditions in the low-end Chinese handset market.
  
• Thomas Weisel downgraded shares of National Instruments (NASDAQ: NATI) to Market Weight from Overweight as they expect EPS growth as operating margins approach cyclical peaks.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Air France-KLM (OTC: AFLYY) was cut to Hold from Buy at Citigroup and to Neutral from Buy at Merrill.
  
• Exelon (NYSE: EXC) and Edenor (NYSE: EDN) were both downgraded at Citigroup to Hold from Buy.
  
• Goldman lowered Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (NYSE: PAC) to Neutral from Buy.

Analyst downgrades: Lloyds TSB Group, OmniVision, National Instruments originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 May 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: American Axle, Knight Transportation and Newfield Exploration were today's noteworthy upgrades.

• Citigroup upgraded shares of American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc (NYSE: AXL) to Buy from Hold on valuation following the recent sell-off and recommends switching out of General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) and into AXL; the firm downgraded GM to Hold from Buy.
• Wachovia upgraded Knight Transportation Inc (NYSE: KNX) to Outperform from Market Perform as they expect the company to benefit earlier from capacity leaving the TL market.
• KeyBanc raised Newfield Exploration Company (NYSE: NFX) to Buy from Hold based on production growth visibility, Rockies value, and increased estimates.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• LCA Vision Incorporated (NASDAQ: LCAV) was upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital.
• Deutsche Bank raised Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SA (NYSE: PAC) to Buy from Hold
Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE: BHI) to Buy from Neutral.

Analyst upgrades: American Axle, Knight Transportation, Newfield Exploration originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 May 2008 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (NYSE: PAC) owns a valuable 50-year concession to operate 12 airports in Mexico, mainly along the Pacific coast and in the central region of the country. This includes major markets like Guadalajara, Tijuana, Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta.

The company makes money in two ways. One is by charging simple per passenger fees that are regulated by the government -- the more traffic that flows through PAC's airports, the more revenues it receives. In addition, the company manages some airport-related services, such as operating parking lots and leasing space to retail outlets.

When analyzing this stock, the key number to watch for is growth in traffic through its airports. The higher traffic is, the more PAC receives in take-off and landing fees. In addition, higher traffic benefits retailers at the airport, translating into the potential for higher sales.

PAC announced that its December passenger traffic was up a solid 11.1% over the same month one year ago. That growth was driven by a 16% surge in domestic air travel. Also helping traffic was the addition of another 20 routes by low-cost carriers (LCC) at PAC's airports; LCCs offer simple point-to-point air travel usually at a lower cost than traditional carriers.

The strong domestic traffic gains suggest that economic growth in Latin America has not yet been scuttled by weakness in the U.S. economy. And growth in the LCC segment should remain strong even if overall traffic growth slows since LCCs offer the cheapest ticket prices.

Trading at 17 times 2008 earnings and with a growth rate of 22%, PAC represents a cheap way to play continued strong growth in Latin America.

If you are interested in more analysis from Paul Tracy, you can find it at StreetAuthority.com

Paul Tracy owns shares of Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacific (PAC)

Fly high with Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacific (PAC) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.