BloggingStocks

Analyst upgrades: NTRI, UA, CME, AKH and KRC

Eric Buscemi — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:15:00 EST

MOST NOTEWORTHY: NutriSystem, Under Armour, CME Group, Air France ADS and Kilroy Realty were today's noteworthy upgrades:

NutriSystem (NASDAQ: NTRI) was upgraded to Strong Buy from Buy at Broadpoint on valuation, as they believe all concerns are overdone.
Think Equities upgraded Under Armour (NYSE: UA) to Buy from Accumulate on valuation.
Wachovia upgraded CME Group (NYSE: CME) to Overweight from Market weight, as they expect fed income volumes to benefit from a more active Federal Reserve.
Goldman added Air France (NYSE: AKH) to its Pan-European Conviction Buy List citing valuation following the recent sell-off.
Citigroup upgraded shares of Kilroy Realty (NYSE: KRC) to Buy from Hold on valuation, as they believe concerns are overblown and the company's underleveraged balance sheet can drive growth.

OTHER UPGRADES:

UBS raised SXC Health Solutions (NASDAQ: SXCI) to Buy from Neutral.
Think Equities upgraded Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) to Accumulate from Source of Funds.
DA Davidson & Co upgraded Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI) to Buy from Hold.
Lehman upgraded Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL) to Equal Weight from Underweight.
Keefe Bruyette upgraded SEI Investments (NASDAQ: SEIC) to Outperform from Market Perform.

Eric Buscemi — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 10:45:00 EST

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Omnicare, Masco, Smart Modular and VASCO Data Security were today's noteworthy downgrades:

Matrix downgraded shares of Omnicare (NYSE: OCR) to Hold from Buy to reflect the company's very weak performance and higher than average risk.
Merrill Lynch downgraded Masco Corp (NYSE: MAS) to Sell from Neutral to reflect expectations for a decline in U.S. housing starts and remodeling in 2008. The broker recommends swapping into Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI).
Smart Modular (NASDAQ: SMOD) was downgraded to Market Outperform from Strong Buy at JMP Securities following the Q4 pre-announcement.
VASCO Data Security (NASDAQ: VDSI) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Friedman Billings on valuation.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

RAIT Financial Trust (NYSE: RAS) was downgraded to Underperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital.
KMG America (NYSE: KMA) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Friedman Billings on valuation.

Eric Buscemi — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 09:15:00 EST

MAJOR PAPERS:

Higher interest rate are making commercial real estate deal makers think twice about deals, according to the Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street," sending shares of companies like Archstone-Smith Trust (NYSE: ASN) down from $64 to $60.75 a share.
The Financial Times reported that U.S. senators have proposed new laws that would impose higher taxes on private equity firms that list their shares on stock exchanges, a move that could be a blow to private-equity firm Blackstone Group, which is seeking to list its shares.
The U.S. and U.K. are working on a treaty that would allow Britain to buy American weapons without obtaining export licenses, the Financial Times reported; any deal on the issue could face opposition in the U.S. Congress, although the British believe eliminating the need for the licenses would expedite the arms purchasing process.

OTHER PAPERS:

Turnaround candidate Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) may be ready to shine, BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" column reported, and now may be a good time to evaluate a potential EK play, according to investment advisor Gregory MacArthur.
Gateway Inc (NYSE: GTW) is selling products in China for the first time in a pilot program with Digital China Holdings Ltd, the LA Times reported.
According to The Nation, The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) is planning to ask its board of directors later this year for approval to invest in five petrochemical projects in Thailand.
Cementos Portland Valderribas, a unit of Fomento de Construcciones y Contractas is planning a bid for Texas Industries Inc (NYSE: TXI), the Expansion reports, citing people close to the situation.