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.

With current tough times, and maybe getting tougher with deflation as a real possibility, investors who think more defensively may see better returns with more conservative stocks, ones with dividends and solid balance sheets. Now isn't the time to be too aggressive. With that in mind, here are five stocks that made our column dedicated to conservative investors.

Avista Corp. (AVA): an energy company, engaged in the generation, transmission, and distribution of energy and energy-related businesses in the United States and Canada. The company operates through two segments, Avista Utilities and Advantage IQ.

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: Five Defensive Stocks

Comfort Zone Investing: Five Defensive Stocks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 14 Aug 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Wunderlich upgraded Inergy (NRGY) to buy from hold on valuation after the stock sold off following the proposed merger with Inergy Holdings (NRGP). The firm raised its target for shares to $46 from $40.
• Soleil upgraded Applied Industrial (AIT) to buy from gradually accumulate following the company's better-than-expected Q4 results and raised its target for shares to $42 from $36.
• Citigroup upgraded Starwood Property (STWD) to buy from hold with a $21 price target, citing a pick-up in CRE loan sales.
• Family Dollar (FDO) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Intercontinental Hotels (IHG) was upgraded to buy from sell at Societe Generale.
• Yucheng Technologies (YTEC) was upgraded to buy from hold at Roth Capital.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AIT, BWC, CRK, ECT, FDO, NRGY, STWD, TSCO ...

Analyst Calls: AIT, BWC, CRK, ECT, FDO, NRGY, STWD, TSCO ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Warren Buffett Stocks Up on Tesco

Warren Buffett Stocks Up on Tesco originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Jun 2010 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Baird upgraded Dell (DELL) to outperform from neutral, citing valuation and improving IT hardware trends. The firm raised its target to $21 from $17.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Regal Entertainment (RGC) to buy from neutral, citing box office momentum and improving potential for a dividend increase. The firm raised its target for shares to $20.50 from $16.
• Thomas Weisel upgraded CF Industries (CF) to overweight from market weight as it sees reduced financing risk following the equity offering and valuation.
• GameStop (GME) was upgraded to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Exxon Mobil (XOM) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Raymond James.
• Cameron (CAM) was raised to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: CF, DELL, EXC, MA, MSFT, RGC, RVBD, TSCO, WHR, XOM ...

Analyst Calls: CF, DELL, EXC, MA, MSFT, RGC, RVBD, TSCO, WHR, XOM ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Oppenheimer upgraded Williams-Sonoma (WSM) to outperform from perform. Opco believes the company's business model is being underappreciated by investors and upped its target price for shares to $40 from $26.
• BMO Capital upgraded Tractor Supply (TSCO) to market perform from underperform and set a $75 target. The firm upgraded the stock after the company's positive preannouncement.
• JCPenney (JCP) was upgraded to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• DISH Network (DISH) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• BJ's Wholesale (BJ) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.
• Taseko Mines (TGB) was upgraded to buy from hold at TD Newcrest.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AA, BJ, CELG, DISH, JCP, MGM, TJX, TSCO, WSM ...

Analyst Calls: AA, BJ, CELG, DISH, JCP, MGM, TJX, TSCO, WSM ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 09 Apr 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Credit Suisse upgraded Blackrock (BLK) to outperform from neutral and added shares to its U.S. Focus List. The firm cites valuation for the upgrade. The firm raised its target to $280 from $270.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Greenhill & Co. (GHL) to outperform from market perform following the company's acquisition of Caliburn. The firm raised its price target for shares to $110 from $82.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Athenahealth (ATHN) to buy from hold, citing the removal of the company's accounting overhang and a strong long-term outlook. The firm raised its price target for shares to $51 from $40.
• Ann Taylor (ANN) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Jacobs Engineering (JEC) was upgraded to sell from conviction sell at Goldman.
• Sterling Bancorp (STL) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ALU, ATHN, BLK, BRCM, DO, FUQI, GHL, MRVL, OVTI ...

Analyst Calls: ALU, ATHN, BLK, BRCM, DO, FUQI, GHL, MRVL, OVTI ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Tractor Supply Co. (TSCO) to neutral to underweight ahead of the company's investment meeting Tuesday and raised its target on shares to $55 from $46.
• Barclays upgraded Norfolk Southern (NSC) to overweight from equal weight, citing earning potential and core price fundamentals. The firm raised its target to $52 from $55.
• KeyBanc upgraded Denbury Resources (DNR) to buy from hold based on expectations that the EAC acquisition has material value that is not reflected in shares. The firm has a $19 target on shares.
• BP Plc (BP) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Cowen.
• Rowan Companies (RDC) was upgraded to sector perform from underperform at RBC Capital.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ALK, ANF, BP, BRK.A, DNR, GPN, NSC, TSCO ...

Analyst Calls: ALK, ANF, BP, BRK.A, DNR, GPN, NSC, TSCO ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Jefferies upgraded Citrix Systems (CTXS) to buy from hold and raised its target to $48 from $43, citing VMware's (VMW) strong Q4 report and survey results that indicate continued strength for Citrix.
• Citigroup upgraded Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN) to buy from hold on confidence the company's LAR drug will be approved following the approval of Novo Nordisk's (NVO) Victoza. Citi raised its target price for Amylin shares to $27 from $4.
• Baird upgraded Texas Instruments (TXN) to outperform from neutral and raised its target to $30 from $28. The firm believes it is too early to take profits in Texas Instruments and notes that checks continue to indicate a continued recovery in end-demand.
• Lexmark (LXK) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Salix (SLXP) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Plexus (PLXS) was lifted to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.

Continue reading Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades and Initiations: AMLN, CI, CTXS, HSY, KRA, TSCO, TXN ...

Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades and Initiations: AMLN, CI, CTXS, HSY, KRA, TSCO, TXN ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Canaccord upgraded IBM (IBM) to buy from hold, citing the better-than-expected Q4 report, an ongoing economic recovery and higher IT budgets. The firm raised its target to $150 from $130.
• Citigroup upgraded Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) to buy from hold to reflect strength in the oilseed processing market and a positive inflection in ethanol profitability. The firm raised its target on shares to $37 from $33.
• FBR Capital upgraded Tesco (TESO) to outperform from market perform on expectations the company's top drive orders will accelerate in the coming quarters. The firm raised its target price on shares to $18.
• CBS (CBS) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• HSBC Holdings (HBC) was upgraded to buy from hold at RBS.
• Essex Property Trust (ESS) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, Downgrades and Initiations: ADM, CBS, CPO, DOW, DD, IBM, KAR, TSCO ...

Analyst upgrades, Downgrades and Initiations: ADM, CBS, CPO, DOW, DD, IBM, KAR, TSCO ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• JPMorgan upgraded Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) and Goldcorp (NYSE: GG) to Overweight from Neutral following its gold valuation analysis. The firm set a $54 price target on Barrick shares and a $47 price target on Goldcorp shares.
• Thomas Weisel upgraded EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) to Overweight from Market Weight and raised its target to $24 from $15, citing the company's improving end market demand, competitive position, and valuation.
• Barclays upgraded AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) to Overweight from Equal Weight, citing the company's improved liquidity position and what they believe to be the beginning of a multi-year profit cycle for the sector. Despite the upgrade, the firm lowered its target to $14 from $20.
• Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
• Toshiba (OTC: TOSBF) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
• Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AMR, DT, HOG, JBLU, LULU, VLO ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AMR, DT, HOG, JBLU, LULU, VLO ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There is a bill making rounds on Capitol Hill that would provide a tax break for up to $3,500 for pet expenses. Does Fido really deserve a tax deduction? Do we really need to subsidize pet ownership in this country?

The recession has been extra hard on pets as people have abandoned pets at shelters they are no longer able to properly care for them. Pet can be very expensive between food, visits to the vet and increased rent. Those of you who think dog food is expensive should try to feed a horse sometime!

Continue reading Does Fido deserve a tax break?

Does Fido deserve a tax break? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The earnings crunch begins in earnest this week, and analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting a parade of companies reporting profit declines in the just completed quarter. That includes more financials, such as American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP), Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK), M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB), Northern Trust Corp. (NASDAQ: NTRS), State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT), US Bancorp (NYSE: USB), and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC). On the other hand, Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC), Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF), and Zions Bancorp. (NASDAQ: ZION) are expected to post losses.

This week's anticipated earnings decliners also include tech companies such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Lexmark International Inc. (NYSE: LXK), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN), and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO). Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) is expected to post a loss.

Continue reading The week in preview: Earnings crunch expected to reveal lots of lower profits

The week in preview: Earnings crunch expected to reveal lots of lower profits originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ: TSCO) is on the upswing today after the retailer raised its second-quarter profit estimate. The company now expects to earn $1.48 to $1.50 per share in the second quarter, compared to analysts' consensus forecast for a profit of $1.24 per share. Full-year earnings are now expected to range between $2.78 and $2.92 per share, again outpacing Wall Street's average estimate of $2.64 per share.

Tractor Supply cited tighter control over its marketing expenses for the upwardly revised earnings guidance. However, the retail issue expects consumer spending trends to remain weak through the remainder of 2009, and accordingly trimmed its full-year revenue outlook. The company is now predicting sales of $3.15 billion to $3.25 billion for 2009, down from its earlier guidance of $3.20 billion to $3.30 billion.

Continue reading Tractor Supply Co. surges after hiking its 2Q profit estimate

Tractor Supply Co. surges after hiking its 2Q profit estimate originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Oppenheimer upgraded OceanFreight (NASDAQ:OCNF) to Perform from Underperform on valuation and a lack of negative catalysts following the recent weakness.
  
• UBS raised Micron (NYSE:MU) to Buy from Neutral citing supply cuts which should improve prices. The target remains $5.
  
• Jesup & Lamont upgraded Atlas Air (NASDAQ:AAWW) to Buy from Hold is positive on the company's 20 year blocked space agreement with DHL and expects the stock to continue higher.
• AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) was added to Goldman's Conviction Buy List and upgraded to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Goldman also upgraded Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Digital River (NASDAQ:DRIV) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Stanford.

• Stephens downgraded shares of Titan Machinery (NASDAQ:TITN) after their survey of farmers indicated declining sales of agricultural equipment. The firm lowered their target to $19 but believes Titan Machinery's long-term growth story remains intact.
  
• Jefferies downgraded Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) and Blyth (NYSE:BTH) to Underperform from Hold as they believe the further deterioration in the U.S. consumer macro environment could pressure near-term results. The firm lowered its target on Helen of Troy to $13 from $16.50 and on Blyth to $5.50 from $8.
  
• UBS cut Indevus (NASDAQ:IDEV) to Neutral from Buy and lowered its target to $5.50 from $5 following the acquisition offer by Endo Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENDP).
• AECOM Tech (NYSE:ACM) was lowered to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
  
• Amerisafe (NYSE:AMSF) was downgraded at Oppenheimer to Perform from Outperform.
  
• Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Piper Jaffray.

• KeyBanc initiated Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) with a Buy rating and $22 target. The firm believes the Urban Outfitters and Antropologie divisions are under penetrated and have visible growth.
  
• Kaufman Bros. started SuccessFactors (NASDAQ:SFSF) with a Hold rating and $7 target and believes the current demand backdrop could be worse than reflected in current consensus estimates.
  
• CarMax (NASDAQ:KMX) was initiated at Baird with a Neutral rating and $10 target. The firm is impressed with CarMax's business model but does not see a way around the near-term economic headwinds.
• Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) and Sunlife Financial (NYSE:SLF) were assumed with Equal Weight ratings at Morgan Stanley.
  
• Oppenheimer started Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ:PSUN) with a Perform rating.
  
• Kite Realty Trust (NYSE:KRG) was initiated with a Buy rating at Janney Montgomery.

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: MU, DRIV, HELE, URBN, AKS... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of Tesoro (NYSE: TSO) to Hold from Sell as they believe bankruptcy is not a "major danger" after meeting with management and that recent raise in indebtedness was due to rising working capital requirements combined with negative gasoline cracks.
  
• Citigroup raised Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) to Buy from Hold following the recent weakness to reflect the company's margin improvement and better visibility into 2009.
  
• Calyon upgraded shares of Ensco (NYSE: ESV) to Add from Neutral as they believe the company's increasing exposure to the deepwater market will drive earnings growth. The firm raised their target to $85 from $74.

• Petrohawk Energy (NYSE: HK) was upgraded at Lehman to Overweight from Equal Weight.
  
• Keefe Bruyette raised Sovereign Bancorp (NYSE: SOV) to Outperform from Market Perform.
  
• Tractor Supply Co (NASDAQ: TSCO) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Analyst upgrades: TSO, HK, YGE, ESV, SOV, TSCO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Welcome to the 26th installment of The Wal-Mart Weekly, a column dedicated to bringing you insight, wit, facts, results, opinions and just a bit of everything else when it comes down to a very hot topic these days: Wal-Mart. Last week we wondered whether Always Low Prices was just a myth in today's competitive climate.

This past week, I discussed Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) Stores, Inc.'s entry into the non-protected digital music file download business. With the retailer selling non-protected songs from its website for a maximum of $0.94, will this action dent into Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s iTunes market share? Who knows at this point.

Wal-Mart has been in the news quite a bit this past week in regards to a European competitor entering a market Wal-Mart is already in (just not in a big way) -- California. Tesco (LSE: TSCO) said it will be opening smaller-concept stores soon that feature the opposite of the big-box retail feeling of the standard 100,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter. Tesco's stores will average about 10,000 square feet. What will Wal-Mart do in response?

Continue reading The Wal-Mart (WMT) Weekly: Smaller stores to come?

The Wal-Mart (WMT) Weekly: Smaller stores to come? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 31 Aug 2007 07:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Before the bell 6-19-07: Investors await housing data; Yahoo! in focus originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Jun 2007 07:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Specialty retailers, of course, should employ folks who understand the products they sell. There is a Brentwood, Tennessee outfit that staffs each of its stores with a horse owner, a farmer and a welder. Wonder what they offer? Read on.

Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ: TSCO) is a retail supplier of products for recreational farmers and ranchers. Offerings include tractor parts, fencing, animal feeds and medicines, tools, truck and trailer parts, garden products, riding mowers, and work clothes. The firm operates 698 stores in the U.S. and Canada. Outlets are generally located in rural areas and the outlying suburbs of cities. Major competitors are Home Depot (NYSE:HD) and Sears Holdings (NASDAQ:SHLD).

The company surprised the Street earlier in the week, when it guided Q1 EPS to 10-12 cents and Q1 revenues to $559.8 million. On average, analysts had been expecting break-even earnings and sales of $526.65 million. Management also said it expected FY07 EPS of $2.49-2.56 ($2.50 consensus) and FY07 revenues of $2.7-2.75 billion ($2.72B consensus).

Continue reading Tractor Supply: They don't actually sell tractors

Tractor Supply: They don't actually sell tractors originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Wachovia downgraded shares of WebEx Communications Inc (NASDAQ: WEBX) to Market Perform from Outperform to reflect the company's pending acquisition by Cisco Systems (CSCO).
• Bank of America cut Avaya Inc (NYSE: AV) to Neutral from Buy with a $13 target after taking in account the company's acquisition of Ubiquity Software Corp Plc. The firm believes sales may miss consensus for the next few quarters, while gross operating margins could disappoint.
• CIBC downgraded Tractor Supply Co (NASDAQ: TSCO) to Sector Performer from Sector Outperformer. The firm sees some moderate upside for shares of TSCO but says it will be incrementally more difficult to achieve without a major fundamental driver in the near-term.
• WestLB AG downgraded shares of Nokia (NYSE: NOK) to Reduce from Hold.
• Mattel Inc (NYSE: MAT) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital on valuation.

• First Albany downgraded Cerner Corp (NASDAQ: CERN) to Neutral from Buy.
• Keefe Bruyette downgraded A.G. Edwards, Inc (NYSE: AGE) to Market Perform from Outperform on valuation.
• Rodman & Renshaw downgraded shares of Genentech, Inc (NYSE: DNA) to Market Perform from Outperform citing a slowdown in near-term growth and valuation that reflects most of its future growth.
• BMO Capital cut both Anadarko Petroleum Corp (NYSE: APC) and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp (NYSE: COG) to Underperform from Market Perform.

Analyst downgrades 4-12-07: AV, DNA, NOK and MAT downgraded today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Apr 2007 11:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.