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Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: SONS, HBC, BKS, VIA, GG, K ...

Posted Jan 16th 2009 11:40AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Analyst initiations

Analyst upgrades:
  • Jefferies upgraded Sonus Networks (NASDAQ: SONS) to Buy from Hold on valuation as they find the risk/reward compelling at current levels. Jefferies has a $2 target on the stock.
  • Dresdner upgraded HSBC (NYSE: HBC) to Buy from hold on valuation as they believe the dividend cut is fully priced in at current levels.
  • JP Morgan upgraded Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) to Neutral from Underweight on valuation as they recommend short positions take profits at current levels.
  • Kellogg (K) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
  • RPM, Inc (NYSE: RPM) and Valspar (NYSE: VAL) were upgraded at KeyBanc to Buy from Hold.
  • Omnicare (NYSE: OCR) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
Analyst downgrades:
  • Jefferies downgraded Dune Energy (AXE: DNE) to Underperform from Hold to reflect weak commodity prices and the company's reduced financial flexibility. The firm lowered its target price to 10c from 30c.
  • Baird downgraded NeuStar (NYSE: NSR) to Neutral from Outperform and lowered their target to $20 from $22 based on 2009 revenue concerns and the CFO's departure.
  • UBS cut Viacom (NYSE: VIA) to Neutral from Buy and lowered its target to $18 from $27. The firm believes advertising declines will be worst than expected and that Film expectations are too high.
  • Goldcorp (NYSE: GG) was lowered to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan.
  • Kindred Healthcare (NYSE: KND) and Tenet Healthcare (THC) were downgraded at Barclays to Equal Weight from Overweight.
  • Cynosure (NASDAQ: CYNO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
Analyst initiations:
  • Keefe Bruyette believes Blackstone's (NYSE: BX) operating results and cash flow generation are likely to remain depressed well into 2009 given the weakening economy. The firm started shares with a Market Perform rating and $6 target.
  • Oppenheimer views Brinks (NYSE: BCO) as a pure-play secure logistics company and feels it is well positioned to take advantage of a recent decline in acquisition prices. The firm has an Outperform rating and $32 target on the stock.
  • Kellogg (NYSE: K) was initiated with a Buy rating and $52 target at Janney Montgomery.
  • Avery Dennison (NYSE: AVY) was started at Barclays with an Equal Weight rating.
  • Medco Health (NYSE: MHS) was initiated with a Market Perform rating and $59 target at Bernstein.

Analyst initiations: SMCI, GLW, VRTX, CVC, SIMO, BCO

Posted Jul 14th 2008 12:25PM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Corning Inc (GLW), Analyst initiations

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Super Micro Computer, Corning and Vertex Pharmaceuticals were today's noteworthy initiations:
  • Merriman believes Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI) is a unique value in the Data Center sector and thinks it could trade to a range of $10-$12 in the near-term. Shares were initiated with a Buy rating.
  • Citigroup started Corning (NYSE: GLW) with a Hold rating and $23.50 target. The firm sees limited upside given the risks to LCD glass demand.
  • Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) was assumed with an Overweight rating and $57 target at Thomas Weisel, as they are positive on its telaprevir opportunity.
OTHER INITIATIONS:
  • Lehman reinitiated Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) with an Equal Weight rating.
  • Silicon Motion (NASDAQ: SIMO) was initiated at Cowen with an Outperform rating.
  • Brinks (NYSE: BCO) was initiated with a Positive rating at Susquehanna.

Newspaper wrap-up 7-20-07: Monster founder involved in options backdating

Posted Jul 20th 2007 9:15AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Alcoa Inc (AA), Monster Worldwide (MNST)

MAJOR PAPERS:
  • Barron's Online's (subscription required) "Inside Scoop" reported that a batch of sales at Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA) has followed Alcoa's withdrawal of its offer to purchase Alcan Inc (NYSE: AL): from July 13-17, four senior executives grossed $41.3M by selling 877,600 shares on the open market at per-share prices ranging from $46.67 to $47.47, according to SEC data.
  • Andrew McKelveey, the founder and former CEO of Monster Worldwide Inc (NASDAQ: MNST) was allegedly involved in the backdating of stock option grants for employees, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
OTHER PAPERS:

Cramer buyouts predictions: Share buybacks for Brinks, Weight Watchers signal takeover potential

Posted May 7th 2007 8:46PM by Jon Ogg (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Deals, Television

Cramer has a new method for predicting takeovers. He says that four of the 14 largest buybacks have either been taken over, or have agreed to be taken over, in the last few months. Thankfully he also said that he is only focusing on buyout candidates that he thinks are good all on their own, outside of trying to find takeover candidates.

The #3 pick is United Stationers Inc. (NASDAQ: USTR), which has bought back 20% of its outstanding shares. The company should have improving margins and there are only three analysts covering the stock. This is in the distribution of office products and office supplies.

The #2 pick is The Brinks Company (NYSE: BCO), which bought back 21% of its stock. He thinks the fundamentals are great on this one. It is a home security play and a play for securely transporting financial and luxury goods.

The #1 pick from Cramer in share buybacks is Weight Watchers International, Inc. (NYSE:WTW).

Continue reading Cramer buyouts predictions: Share buybacks for Brinks, Weight Watchers signal takeover potential

Daily option update 12-20: Higher bid expected for Redback

Posted Dec 21st 2006 8:48AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Google (GOOG), Apple Inc (AAPL), General Electric (GE), Pfizer (PFE)

U.S. stocks were mixed in trading yesterday. The Dow was down 0.01%, the NASDAQ 100 down 0.01%, the S&P 500 up 0.08%, and 10-year bond rates decreased to 4.5950%. The CBOE VIX was down .14 to 10.35. In the next twelve days, only six will be trading days.
  • Redback Networks Inc.'s (NASDAQ: RBAK) call activity suggests another bid above Ericsson's (NASDAQ: ERIC) $25 bid is expected. Redback agreed to sell itself to Ericsson for $25 per share in cash, but has been recently trading at $25.58. Redback January 25 calls have traded 587 times on transaction volume of 21,094 contracts according to Track Data. Redback January 25 calls are bid .85 cents, suggesting option market makers expect a higher hostile buyout bid.
  • Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) January option implied volatility of 24 suggests decreasing risk. Google is recently trading at $465.28, and with a January option implied volatility of 24 is at the low end of range according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price risk.
  • The Brink's Company's (NYSE:BCO) options have been busy on higher volatility as Brink's trades up to a new record. Brink's, a leader in security and risk management services, is recently up $1.62 to $64.49. Pirate Capital, an activist hedge fund with an 8.5% stake in the company, has been encouraging Brink's to immediately unlock long-term shareholder value. Brink's has a market cap of $3.1 billion with long term debt of $144 million, and reported 2005 revenues of $2.5 billion. Brink's call option volume of 2,797 contracts compares to put volume of 724 contracts. The January option implied volatility of 33 is above its 26-week average of 28 according to Track Data, suggesting increasing price risks.
Option volume leaders today were General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), Northfield Laboratories (NASDAQ:NFLD), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and Apple Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).

Options analysis provided by Paul Foster, options strategist for Theflyonthewall.com.

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+30.6910,464.40
NASDAQ+6.872,176.05
S&P 500+4.981,110.63

Last updated: November 25, 2009: 04:40 PM

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