• McAdams Wright expects Dendreon's (NASDAQ: DNDN) near-term momentum to continue but has long-term concerns that Street estimates are too high. The firm upgraded shares to Hold from Sell.
• JPMorgan upgraded Ameristar Casinos (NASDAQ: ASCA) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect valuation, potential catalysts from Colorado's easing gaming regulations, and the company's strong free cash flow. The firm raised its target on shares to $24 from $20.
• Citigroup upgraded Valspar (NYSE: VAL) to Hold from Sell after channel checks indicated paint demand is shifting to big-box retailers, the company's primary sales channel. The firm raised its target on shares to $22 from $19.
• Vulcan Materials (NYSE: VMC) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• Altera (NASDAQ: ALTR) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital.
• Spectra Energy (NYSE: SEP) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ALU, BJ, CPB, KMX, PGR

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ALU, BJ, CPB, KMX, PGR originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Citigroup upgraded shares of Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD) to Hold from Sell as they see a 70% chance of an alliance between Anheuser-Busch and InBev in the next two years; they believe such a merger would create a market leader.

• Merriman upgraded IMAX Corp (NASDAQ: IMAX) to Buy from Neutral after IMAX removed its overhang by completing SEC filings, while fundamentals have remained strong.

• Citigroup upgraded Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) to Hold from Sell to reflect the potential for CMS to roll back proposed reimbursement cuts in oncology, an improving risk/reward profile and the potential for positive phase 3 denosumab data by year-end.

• Stifel raised its rating on Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) to Hold from Sell on valuation.

• Kaufman upgraded TiVO (NASDAQ: TIVO) to Buy from Sell as indicators of the change in its business model suggest a positive transaction. The firm feels the the EchoStar (DISH) litigation provides an attractive risk/reward potential, creating an attractive entry point...

• Aflac (NYSE: AFL) was upgraded at Lehman to Overweight from Underweight.

• Stifel upgraded Progressive (NYSE: PGR) to Hold from Sell.

• Wedbush upgraded Jack in the Box (NYSE: JBX) to Buy from Hold.

• Eastman Chemical (NYSE: EMN) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.

• Navteq (NYSE: NVT) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Analyst upgrades 7-23-07: AFL, AMGN, BUD and TIVO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.