Merrill downgraded Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) to Neutral from Buy and expects marketing and promotional spending to limit earnings growth in 2009 and 2010. The firm lowered their target to $35 from $42.
Mechel Steel (NYSE: MTL) was cut to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley to reflect declining coal demand.
Friedman Billings downgraded shares of Legg Mason (NYSE: LM) to Underperform from Market Perform on liquidity concerns given the Legg Mason's leveraged balance sheet and falling EBITDA. The firm lowered their target to $7 from $11.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Taubman Centers, AstraZeneca and Blue Nile were today's noteworthy initiations:
Friedman Billings believes Taubman Centers (NYSE: TCO) is very well positioned with its upscale regional malls and lifestyle centers to weather the current challenges in the current retail environment. Shares were assumed with an Outperform rating and $64 target.
JP Morgan initiated AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) with a Neutral rating. The firm expects investor confidence in the coming months to improve as expectations are AZN's pipeline is low.
Deutsche Bank finds Blue Nile (NASDAQ: NILE) fairly valued given the challenging economic environment and rising commodity prices and initiated shares with a Hold rating and $48 target.
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