Analyst Upgrades

• Barclays upgraded Western Digital (WDC) to overweight from equal weight.
• LDK Solar (LDK) was upgraded to buy from hold at Needham.
• Legg Mason (LM) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Agilent (A) was upgraded to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Dean Foods (DF) to outperform from market perform and Developers Diversified (DDR) to market perform from underperform.
• Deutsche Bank also upgraded Developers Diversified, to buy from hold.
• Northrop Grumman (NOC) was upgraded to sell from conviction sell at Goldman.
• MYR Group (MYRG) was upgraded to buy from hold at BB&T.

Analyst Upgrades

• FBR Capital upgraded New York Community Bancorp (NYB) to outperform from market perform following the FDIC-assisted acquisition of AmTrust. The firm raised its target price on shares to $16 from $11.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Brocade (BRCD) to outperform from perform to reflect valuation, low investor expectations, and the company's potential to gain market share in IP/Ethernet switching. The firm set a target price of $8.50 on shares.
• Stifel Nicolaus upgraded National Health Investors (NHI) to buy from hold following the announcement that the litigation vs. Care Foundation has been dismissed. The firm has a $37 target on the stock.
• American Express (AXP) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• ACE Ltd. (ACE) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Kohl's (KSS) was raised to outperform from neutral at Baird.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded Starbucks (SBUX) to buy from hold, citing EPS and revenue momentum heading into 2010. The firm raised its target to $25 from $22.
• Soleil upgraded Zions Bancorp (ZION) to buy from hold on valuation as it believes the recent pullback provides an attractive entry point. The firm has a $17.50 price target on shares.
• RBC Capital expects Rigel Pharmaceuticals (RIGL) to sign a partnership for R788 in the next four months to run its global Phase III program. Shares were upgraded to outperform from sector perform and its target was raised to $11 from $9.
• Deere (DE) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Shire (SHPGY) was raised to outperform from market perform at Bernstein.
• Ann Taylor (ANN) was upgraded to overweight from market weight at Thomas Weisel.
• J.M. Smucker (SJM) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.

It's been a long wait for the Vitamin Shoppe, which filed for its IPO back in May 2007. Well, today the company finally hit the markets.

The Vitamin Shoppe issued 9.1 million shares at $17 each (the range was $14-$16). With the money, the company will pay down a portion of its outstanding debt.

Started in 1977, Vitamin Shoppe has grown into a large chain of vitamin/supplement stores, with 434 across 37 states. Even with the recession, the company has still been able to churn out same-store sales growth of more than 4%. For the first half of this year, revenues were $343.7 million, up from $307.1 million a year ago. Net income was $8.8 million.