Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) to buy from hold on valuation following the recent pullback in shares. The firm raised its target price on shares to $113 from $108.
• UBS upgraded General Dynamics (GD) to buy from neutral based on improved defense risk profile and stabilization in the business jet market. The firm raised its target to $80 from $70.
• FBR Capital upgraded SunTrust (STI) to outperform from market perform on expectations that regional banks will outperform the large money center banks in this environment. The firm raised its price target on shares to $28 from $22.
• SAP AG (SAP) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Thomson Reuters (TRI) was raised to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Rosetta Resources (ROSE) was upgraded at Wells Fargo to outperform from market perform.

Continue reading Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades and Initiations: GD, ICE, IGT, SAP, STI, TMH, TSS ...

Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades and Initiations: GD, ICE, IGT, SAP, STI, TMH, TSS ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Piper upgraded Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) to Buy from Neutral to reflect the company's strong competitive position and low valuation. The firm does not expect Intel to miss Q3 estimates.
  
• Goldman upgraded shares of Deutsche Telecom (NYSE: DT) to Buy from Neutral and added the stock to the Conviction Buy List as they believe the dividend is well covered.
  
• Wachovia upgraded Landstar System (NASDAQ: LSTR) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation and potential near-term catalysts from hurricane-related activities.
• Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings.
  
• Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) was upgraded at JMP Securities to Outperform from Market Perform.
  
• Baird lifted Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) to Neutral from Underperform.

• Jefferies downgraded VCA Antech (NASDAQ: WOOF) to Underperform from Buy as they believe reduced consumer spending and rising unemployment levels will hurt the company's hospital and lab volumes in FY09. The company's target was lowered to $25 from $35.
  
• Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Total System (NYSE: TSS) to Perform from Outperform to reflect the challenging macro environment and the customer portfolio risk from bank consolidation.

Continue reading Analyst calls: INTC, DT, ANF, RIMM, WFC, FITB, TDW, ROK ...

Analyst calls: INTC, DT, ANF, RIMM, WFC, FITB, TDW, ROK ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Stephens initiated Total Systems (NYSE: TSS) with an Overweight rating and $28 target. The firm thinks investor concerns about the negative impact of economic weakness are overdone.
  
• JP Morgan believes Capital Products' (NASDAQ: CPLP) fixed-rate contract coverage and fixed operating costs should provide stable cash distributions to unit holders. The firm assumed coverage with an Overweight rating.
  
• Ashford Hospitality (NYSE: AHT) was initiated at UBS with a Buy rating and $7 target.

• Bank of Kentucky (OTC: BKYF) was initiated with an Outperform rating and $29 target at Baird.
  
• Morgan Stanley initiated Longs Drug Stores (NYSE: LDG) with an Equal Weight rating.

Analyst initiations: TSS, CPLP and AHT originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Circuit City, Best Buy, COTT Corp and o2 Micro were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Wachovia started shares of Circuit City Stores Inc (NYSE: CC) with a Market Perform rating, citing low visibility into near-term fundamentals and low conviction in EPS.
• The firm also started shares of Best Buy Incorporated (NYSE: BBY) with a Market Perform rating, citing low visibility into holiday sales and product margin trends and valuation.
• Gabelli started COTT Corporation (NYSE: COT) with a Hold rating, as they believe the company's Q3 was disappointing. The firm thinks COTT lacks pricing power, and would look for margin improvement and successful non-carbonated soft drink penetration from the company before recommending the stock
• Thomas Weisel started shares of o2 Micro International Limited (NASDAQ: OIIM) with an Overweight rating and $24 target. The firm believes the company is in good position to compete in the high growth markets of power management, advanced lighting and security and surveillance

• Goldman started shares of Heartland Payment Systems (NYSE: HPY) with a Buy rating and VeriFone Holdings, Inc (NYSE: PAY) and Total System Services Inc (NYSE: TSS) with Neutral ratings.
• Gasco Energy Inc (AMEX: GSX) was initiated with an Outperform rating at Morgan Keegan.
• Morgan Joseph resumed coverage of Stage Stores Inc (NYSE: SSI) with a Hold rating.

Analyst initiations: CC, BBY, COT and OIIM originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cramer's two financial service buyout picks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 21 May 2007 19:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• UBS cut UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE: UNH) to Neutral from Buy citing moderating fundamentals in commercial performance and large government exposure that will make it difficult for the company to outperform its peer group.

• Jefferies downgraded RF Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ: RFMD) to Hold from Buy with a $7 target as the firm believes the company's June guidance signals a slow down of second-half fundamentals.

• Stephens cut UTi Worldwide Inc (NASDAQ: UTIW) to Equal Weight from Overweight based on ongoing cost issues.

• Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Sanders Morris to reflect weak ad growth at MTV, digital revenues that the firm believes are a displacement rather than accretive to the revenue base and the lawsuit against Google's (GOOG) YouTube, which the firm feels is the wrong call.

• Matrix USA cut Total Systems Services (NYSE: TSS) to Sell from Hold and NIC Inc (NASDAQ: EGOV) to Hold from Buy on valuation.

• Sealed Air Corp (NYSE: SEE) was taken down to Market Perform from Outperform at Wachovia citing valuation.

• HSBC downgraded shares of British Sky Broadcasting Group plc (NYSE: BSY) to Underweight from Neutral.

• Friedman Billings downgraded shares of Maguire Properties, Inc (NYSE: MPG) to Market Perform from Outperform citing the fallout from subprime-exposed office space.

Analyst downgrades 3-29-07: Viacom, UnitedHeatlth and RF Micro downgraded today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Mar 2007 10:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Total System Services Inc. (NYSE:TSS) provides electronic payment processing in North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. Related offerings include credit authorization, account management, call-center operations and fraud monitoring. Total System Services is more than 80-percent owned by Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV) and accounts for about one-third of that firm's total revenue.

The company had good news for investors last week, when it reported Q4 EPS of 44 cents and revenues of $503.9 million. Analysts had been expecting 24 cents and $434.8 million. Management also guided FY07 revenues to $1.69-$1.73 billion ($1.71B consensus) and said it expects 2007 net income to rise by 14-17% (8-10% prior guidance). Shares popped on the news and are now consolidating the gain in a bullish "flag" pattern. Equities frequently exit flags moving in the same direction they were traveling when they entered them. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Brokers recommend the stock with one "buy", thirteen "holds" and one "sell." The TSS P/E ratio (23.42), PEG ratio (1.80), Price to Sales ratio (3.26), Price to Cash Flow ratio (13.54), Price to Free Cash Flow ratio (20.67), EPS Growth rate (76.00%), Operating Margin (19.98%), Net Profit Margin (13.75%), Return on Assets (16.08%), Return on Investment (19.88%) and Return on Equity (22.35%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages.

Institutional investors hold about eight percent of the outstanding shares. Over the past fifty-two weeks, TSS has traded between $17.87 and $30.75. A stop-loss of $25.60 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.

Total System Services shares defining flag originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Jan 2007 12:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.