Analyst upgrades:

• Baird upgraded Regal-Beloit (NYSE: RBC) to Outperform from Neutral based on valuation and growth expectations.
• Black & Decker (NYSE: BDK) and Lennar (NYSE: LEN) were upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS based on valuation.
• Kroger (NYSE: KR) and Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) were added to Goldman's Conviction Buy List.
• CIBC upgraded Biovail (NYSE: BVF) to Sector Performer from Sector Underperformer.
• Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Cowen.

• Merrill downgraded Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) to Neutral from Buy and expects marketing and promotional spending to limit earnings growth in 2009 and 2010. The firm lowered their target to $35 from $42.
• Mechel Steel (NYSE: MTL) was cut to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley to reflect declining coal demand.
  
• Friedman Billings downgraded shares of Legg Mason (NYSE: LM) to Underperform from Market Perform on liquidity concerns given the Legg Mason's leveraged balance sheet and falling EBITDA. The firm lowered their target to $7 from $11.

Continue reading Analyst calls: RBC, BDK, KR, LEN, KR, CPB, MTL, LM, PIR, AAPL, AVP ...

Analyst calls: RBC, BDK, KR, LEN, KR, CPB, MTL, LM, PIR, AAPL, AVP ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cheese, corn, beer -- that's what most of us think when we hear the name Wisconsin. But the three Wisconsin-based companies that made Fortune's 2007 list of 100 fastest growing companies -- Ladish Inc. (NASDAQ: LDSH), Joy Global Inc. (NASDAQ: JOYG), and Regal Beloit Corp. (NYSE: RBC) -- are manufacturers that have nothing to do directly with cheese, corn, or beer.

Wisconsin does lead the nation in cheese production. Heck, two of those three items -- cheese, corn, and beer -- even appear on the Wisconsin design state quarter. Despite Wisconsin's reputation as an agricultural state, though, agriculture isn't the largest part of the state economy. Tourism is also an important industry in Wisconsin, with such destinations as the Wisconsin Dells, Circus World and the House on the Rock, but that's not the leading sector either. Manufacturing makes up the largest part of the Wisconsin economy, as the companies on Fortune's list indicate.

At number 21 on the list of the fastest growing companies was aerospace components maker Ladish, which is headquartered in Cudahy, Wisconsin. Ladish's three-year annual revenue growth rate was 28% and its five-year earnings per share growth was 104%. Back in July, Ladish reported a strong second quarter, beating expectations, and a solid outlook for rest of the year. Then, in August, the company announced that it would expand its operations in Poland. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial consider Ladish a buy. The share price reached a 52-week high of $60.00 on Tuesday. It was trading in the mid $20s a year ago.

Continue reading Investing in Wisconsin: Ladish (LDSH), Snap-On (SNA), and others

Investing in Wisconsin: Ladish (LDSH), Snap-On (SNA), and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Oct 2007 12:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.