Analyst Upgrades

• Standpoint Research upgraded Bank of America (BAC) to accumulate from hold based on valuation.
• UBS upgraded First Solar (FSLR) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $150 from $136. The firm believes global solar demand will be higher than expected in 2010 and 2011.
• Goldman upgraded Lowe's (LOW) to buy from neutral and has a $24 target on the stock. The firm upgraded shares given the company's margin recovery which will drive EPS growth in 2H10.
• Zep Inc. (ZEP) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Janney Montgomery.
• Rosetta Resources (ROSE) was upgraded to buy from neutral at SunTrust.
• Matrixx Initiatives (MTXX) was upgraded to buy from hold at Roth Capital.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BAC, BIDU, COCO, FSLR, GPC, LOW, ROSE, SHIP, UTA ...

Analyst Calls: BAC, BIDU, COCO, FSLR, GPC, LOW, ROSE, SHIP, UTA ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Argus upgraded Weyerhaeuser (WY) to buy from hold, citing the better-than-expected Q1 report and expectations that the company is about to be profitable. The firm has a $59 target on the stock.
• Weeden upgraded Cameron (CAM) to buy from hold as it views the recent sell-off as overdone.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Mobile Mini (MINI) to outperform from perform based on valuation and what the firm sees as the company's attractive risk/reward ratio. The firm set a $25 target.
• Johnson Controls (JCI) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• EnerNOC (ENOC) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Janney Montgomery.
• Checkpoint (CKP) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Baird.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BLK, CAM, GLW, HAIN, MINI, RIG, SWM, TNDM, WY ...

Analyst Calls: BLK, CAM, GLW, HAIN, MINI, RIG, SWM, TNDM, WY ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 06 May 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) to Buy from Neutral on expectations business in the U.S. and China will improve in the second half of 2009. Goldman raised its target price on shares to $40 from $36.
• Canaccord upgraded Exco Resources (NYSE: XCO) to Buy from Speculative Buy citing the company's financial transactions to reduce debt. The firm, which has a $17 target on the stock, says Exco now has a stronger balance sheet, a greater geographic focus, and the ability to expedite drilling programs.
• ThinkEquity upgraded Shanda (NASDAQ: SNDA) to Accumulate from Source of Funds and raised its target to $60 from $50. The firm believes recent weakness on regulatory concerns is overdone and that Q2 estimates are conservative.
• Mack-Cali Realty (NYSE: CLI) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
• Marvel Entertainment (NYSE: MVL) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
• France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) was upgraded to Outperform from Underperform at Credit Suisse.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: HOT, MVL, NDAQ, PALM, YUM ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: HOT, MVL, NDAQ, PALM, YUM ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Morgan Stanley said Bank of America's (NYSE: BAC) capital needs are largely known and shares are trading "cheaply despite reduced downside risk." The firm upgraded shares to Overweight from Underweight and raised the price target to $25 from $16. Shares were also upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird citing manageable capital needs and attractive risk/reward.
  
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation as it views the stock as inexpensive despite the recent rally. The firm has an $8 target on the stock.
• Banc of America/Merrill upgraded Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) to Buy from Neutral as it believes fewer hedging losses could bring upside over the next few quarters.
• Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Barclays.
  
• EnerNOC (NASDAQ: ENOC) was lifted to Buy from Neutral at Janney Montgomery.
  
• Westpac Banking (NYSE: WBK) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BAC, FITB, RTP, SYMC, MS, T, VZ ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BAC, FITB, RTP, SYMC, MS, T, VZ ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 May 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Citigroup downgraded certain mortgage lenders and consumer credit companies, including Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) and MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG) to Hold from Buy and Radian Group (NYSE: RDN) and Capital One (NYSE: COF) to Sell from Hold, as they believe mortgage and other consumer-related credit challenges will impact share performance over the intermediate term.
  
• Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital, as they believe Starbucks will continue to be pressured given sales weakness, EPS risk and return compression.

• Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  
• JP Morgan lowered its rating on Westpac Banking (NYSE: WBK) to Neutral from Overweight.
  
• CIBC downgraded UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) to Sector Underperform from Sector Perform.

Analyst downgrades: Mortgage lenders and SBUX originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) was downgraded to Reduce from Buy at WestLB and to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse following the company's Q3 profit warning.
  
• WestLB downgraded shares of Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) to Reduce from Hold following Ericsson's profit warning, as they believe Alcatel-Lucent's mobile business will face top-line and margin issues.
  
• Bear Stearns downgraded shares of General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) to Underperform from Peer Perform after learning that benefits from the new union contract will be lower than expected in 2008 and 2009. The broker recommends swapping into Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F).
  
• HSBC downgraded shares of Anglo American (NASDAQ: AAUK) to Neutral from Overweight on valuation. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Anglo to Equal Weight from Overweight also on valuation, as they see better value elsewhere in the sector.
  

• Merrill Lynch downgraded Westpac Banking Corporation (NYSE: WBK) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Piper Jaffray.
  
• Citigroup downgraded SRA International (NYSE: SRX) to Hold from Buy.
  
• UBS downgraded THQ Inc (NASDAQ: THQI) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Lehman Brothers downgraded Syngenta (NYSE: SYT) to Equal Weight from Overweight.

Analyst downgrades: ERIC, ALU, GM and AAUK originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Lehman upgraded the small-cap bank sector to Neutral from Negative as they expect the group to benefit from the decline in short-term interest rates and the steeping yield curve. The firm upgraded Associated Banc-Corp (NASDAQ: ASBC), Pacific Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ: PCBC) and Westpac Banking Corp (NYSE: WBK) to Equal Weight from Underweight.
  
• Friedman Billings added Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN) to its Top Picks list. The firm believes the company can outperform the group and overall market in an economic downturn.
  
• Warnaco Group (NASDAQ: WRNC) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan on valuation and growth potential.
  
• JMP Securities' checks indicate that Intersections (NASDAQ: INTX) is on track to meet EPS expectations for the quarter and is well positioned to beat their 2008 EPS estimate of 80c. The firm raised shares to Strong Buy from Outperform.

• Best Buy Incorporated (NYSE: BBY) and AutoZone (NYSE: AZO) were upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James.
  
• The firm also upgraded shares of CBRL Group (NASDAQ: CBRL) to Market Perform from Outperform.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded Ruby Tuesday (NYSE: RT) and Plexus Corp (NASDAQ: PLXS) to Overweight from Neutral.
  
• Bear Stearns raised MFA Mortgage Investments (NYSE: MFA) to Outperform from Peer Perform.
  
• Goldman added Automatic Data Processing (NYSE: ADP) to its Conviction Buy List.

Analyst upgrades: Small-cap banks, WCN, WRNC and INTX originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Sep 2007 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.