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acuity posts

Analyst upgrades: GM, AYI, PPS, MAN and IMAX

Posted Oct 30th 2007 10:50AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, General Motors (GM), Verizon Communications (VZ)

MOST NOTEWORTHY: General Motors, Acuity Brands, Post Properties, Manpower and IMAX Corp were today's noteworthy upgrades:

UBS upgraded General Motors (NYSE: GM) to Buy from Sell citing a potential $3B in cost savings from the "transformational contract" with the UAW.
Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird based on valuation and management's ability to execute.
Post Properties (NYSE: PPS) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Merrill Lynch following its Q3 report and guidance.
Citigroup upgraded shares of Manpower (NYSE: MAN) to Buy from Hold as they like the company's business model and balance sheet.
Soleil upgraded shares of IMAX Corporation (NASDAQ: IMAX) to Buy from hold with digital IMAX set to launch in Q208, to reflect the attractive economics of the company's new joint venture model.

OTHER UPGRADES:

Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James.
JMP Securities upgraded Actuate Corporation (NASDAQ: ACTU) to Outperform from Market Perform.
Citigroup upgraded FormFactor (FORM) to Buy from Hold and added shares to their Global Tech Conviction List.
CIBC upgraded Northgate Minerals Corporation (NYSE: NXG) to Sector Performer from Sector Underperformer.

Analyst upgrades 7-24-07: CMLS, DFG, PBY and RNOW

Posted Jul 24th 2007 10:52AM by Kevin Shult (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Good news, Stocks to Buy

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Lee Enterprises (LEE), The Pep Boys (PBY), Cumulus Media (CMLS), VeraSun Energy (VSE) and Acuity Brands (AYI) were today's more noteworthy upgrades:

Wachovia upgraded Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE) to Market Perform from Underperform on valuation.

RBC Capital raised Pep Boys (NYSE: PBY) to Sector Perform from Underperform citing upside potential from its real estate monetization strategy.

Cumulus Media (NASDAQ: CMLS) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Citigroup based on the proposed buyout offer.

VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Soleil based on the acquisition of three 110mgy ethanol projects from ASAlliance.

Gabelli upgraded Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI) to Hold from Sell following the company's announcement that it will pursue a tax-free spin-off of its specialty products business...

OTHER UPGRADES:

Keefe Bruyette upgraded Delphi Financial Group (NYSE: DFG) to Outperform from Market Perform.

RightNow Technologies (NASDAQ: RNOW) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Pacific upgraded Secure Computing (NASDAQ: SCUR) to Outperform from Sector Perform.

Lehman raised Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) to Equal Weight from Underweight.

Stanford upgraded Amylin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AMLN) to Buy from Hold.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Analyst upgrades 7-18-07: DELL, SNDK, SNY and WMG

Posted Jul 18th 2007 11:02AM by Kevin Shult (RSS feed)
Filed under: Before the Bell, Analyst Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Good news, Dell (DELL), SanDisk Corp (SNDK)

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Sanofi-Aventis (SNY), Dell (DELL), Warner Music Group (WMG), KeyCorp (KEY) and SanDisk Corp (SNDK) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

HSBC upgraded shares of Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect the company's new drug pipeline investments.

ThinkEquity raised Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) to buy from Sell based on expectations for a better-than-expected July quarter due to strong consumer business demand.