Analyst Upgrades

• BB&T (BBT) and Aflac (AFL) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Kodiak Oil & Gas (KOG) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Zhongpin (HOGS) to neutral from reduce at Global Hunter.
• Marathon Oil (MRO), Noble Energy (NBL) and Manulife Financial (MFC) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Carrizo Oil & Gas (CRZO) to buy from hold at Canaccord.
• Comerica (CMA) to buy from neutral at Rochdale.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AAPL, AFL, BBT, CMA, ENER, HERO, IBM, LVS, MRO, NE ...

Analyst Calls: AAPL, AFL, BBT, CMA, ENER, HERO, IBM, LVS, MRO, NE ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Diamond Offshore (DO) to conviction buy from sell and Baker Hughes (BHI) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Frontier Communications (FTR) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Syntel (SYNT) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo, to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank and to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Kulicke & Soffa (KLIC) and Fiserv (FISV) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• 3M (MMM) to neutral from underweight and Tyco (TYC) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Collective Brands (PSS) and Nordstrom (JWN) to overweight from equal weight, as well as Foot Locker (FL) to equal weight from underweight, at Morgan Stanley.
• Amazon.com (AMZN) to buy from hold at Lazard Capital.
• Yamana Gold (AUY) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: APC, AMZN, CME, DO, GPS, H, JCP, JWN, KSS, PM SYNT ...

Analyst Calls: APC, AMZN, CME, DO, GPS, H, JCP, JWN, KSS, PM SYNT ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Dreamworks (DWA) to overweight from neutral following the company's Q2 results. The firm also raised its target for shares to $38 from $30.
• Stephens upgraded Global Payments (GPN) with a $50 price target following the company's Q4 results. Note, shares were downgraded this morning at Janney Montgomery.
• BMO Capital upgraded Carrizo Oil & Gas (CRZO) to outperform from market perform, citing the company's planned exploration activity. The firm raised its price target to $27 from $23.
• eHealth (EHTH) was upgraded to perform from underperform at Oppenheimer and to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• NASDAQ OMX (NDAQ) was upgraded to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
• C.H. Robinson (CHRW) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ACL, CLR, COF, CRZO, DWA, GPN, MOTR, NDAQ, OMI, ONE ...

Analyst Calls: ACL, CLR, COF, CRZO, DWA, GPN, MOTR, NDAQ, OMI, ONE ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• BMO Capital upgraded Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) to Outperform from Market Perform based on valuation and the company's growth outlook. The firm has a price target of $125 on the stock.
• Morgan Keegan upgraded WESCO (WCC) to Outperform from Market Perform ahead of Thursday's earnings report based on valuation and expectations for stronger than expected sales.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Bank of Marin (BMRC) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $40 price target following the company's Q2 results.
• BHP Billiton (BHP) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
• PPG Industries (PPG) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Schnitzer Steel (SCHN) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ICE, BHP, PETS, GLW, TEL, SFLY

Analyst Calls: ICE, BHP, PETS, GLW, TEL, SFLY originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Credit Suisse upgraded Stancorp (NYSE: SFG) to Outperform from Neutral citing relative valuation and EPS visibility.
• Jefferies upgraded Cypress Semiconductor (NYSE: CY) to Hold from Underperform after its channel checks indicated the company's capacitive touch screen solution has design traction. The firm raised its target on shares to $10 from $7.50.
• FBR Capital upgraded Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ: PSUN) to Outperform from Market Perform to reflect improving store channel checks, the company's brand focus and controlled inventory, as well as the firm's belief that guidance could be conservative. FBR raised its target on shares to $9 from $6.
• Advanced Micro (NYSE: AMD) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at JMP Securities.
• Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
• Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at RBS.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AMD, C, GAP, GS, MET, PSUN, USB ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AMD, C, GAP, GS, MET, PSUN, USB ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Buy from Neutral and raised their target to $22 from $16 citing the renegotiated royalty agreement with Samsung.
• Goldman also upgraded Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT) to Buy from Sell and raised their target to $27 from $11 citing strong operating leverage as RevPAR recovers.
• KeyBanc upgraded Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) to Hold from Underweight citing a recent improvement in freight demand.
• J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) was upgraded to buy from Underperform at Banc of America/Merrill.
• Savvis (NASDAQ: SVVS) was raised to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.
• Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) was upgraded at Citigroup to Buy from Hold.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: SNDK, HOT, CAT, HOG, ANF, ERTS ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: SNDK, HOT, CAT, HOG, ANF, ERTS ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 28 May 2009 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• William Blair initiated American Public Education (NASDAQ: APEI) with an Outperform rating, as they believe the company is still in the early stages of its growth.
  
• Gabelli believes Micrus Endovascular (NASDAQ: MEND) can sustain its rapid growth in the coming years and does not expect it to remain independent in the medium-to-long term. The firm started shares with a Buy rating.

• Carrizo Oil & Gas (NASDAQ: CRZO) was initiated with a Neutral rating at JP Morgan.
  
• Goldman initiated Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM) with a Neutral rating.

Analyst initiations: APEI, AKAM and MEND originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• UBS upgraded shares of Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) to Buy from Neutral on valuation and believes the company's focus on structural improvements and cost reductions will provide positive catalysts.
  
• MedCath (NASDAQ: MDTH) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia, as they view weakness following the Q1 miss due to a higher-than-expected option expense as a buying opportunity.
  
• Bear Stearns raised Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) to Outperform from Peer Perform, as they believe the company is well-positioned for the next oilfield service business cycle and valuation.

• SunTrust upgraded Carrizo Oil & Gas (NASDAQ: CRZO) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Credit Suisse upgraded Eldorado Gold (NYSE: EGO) to Outperform from Neutral.
  
• Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LCAPA) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Lehman.

Analyst upgrades: TWX, MDTH and SLB originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Companies with economic moats/tangible asset values exceeding current market price (asset plays)
• "Optionality" investments

Throughout the article (which is free to read), Sellers highlighted a very interesting stock, Carrizo Oil and Gas (NASDAQ: CRZO). Rather than quoting Sellers, I'll remind you that you can read the article here. However, I would like to show you the stock's chart, which appears very interesting to me. As you can see, since featuring the stock in his article, it has fallen more than $5 per share.

While this certainly isn't a huge sell-off, I think it has created a very interesting buying opportunity for people who like Carrizo as a long term investment for a couple reasons. First and foremost, the stock is currently sitting right around a support level. In addition, the stock is very oversold here according to the stochastics, leading me to believe the support will hold. While hardcore value investors will argue that the buying price doesn't matter as long as the intrinsic value is significantly higher -- a concept I don't necessarily agree with -- I believe it always makes sense to buy stocks at logical and opportune times.

With the tremendous "free options" which aren't being priced into the stock, as Sellers outlined, and an attractive buying opportunity according to the chart, I think Carrizo is very interesting here.

On a sidenote, both Zac Bissonnette and I are big fans of Adams Golf (OTC BB: ADGO) -- a stock which we think holds a great "free option" potential. Basically, the stock's net current asset value covers much of the current market capitalization and, as a result, we believe the market is underestimating the future of the company's hybrid irons -- a product receiving solid reviews and visibility. For a more extensive take on this stock, please see Zac's post.

Disclosure: Kevin Kelly and Zac Bissonnette are long Adams Golf.

Carrizo sells off; a buying opportunity? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 01 Aug 2007 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Komag was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Craig-Hallum, to Market Perform from Outperform at Piper Jaffray, to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank and to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W Baird & Co following the announcement it would be acquired by Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC).
  
• Morgan Stanley downgraded Commercial Mortgage REITs to Underweight from Neutral. Specifically, the firm downgraded shares of Capital Trust, Inc (NYSE: CT) to Equal Weight from Underweight and Gramercy Capital Corp (NYSE: GKK) to Underweight from Equal Weight, citing increased credit spreads and subordination levels.
  
• Getty Images was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Matrix as the firm believes margins are declining and sees downside to their $40/share intrinsic value calculation.
  
• Rural/Metro was downgraded by Ferris, Baker Watts to Neutral from Buy on valuation.

• PMI Group Inc (NYSE: PMI) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
  
• Deutsche Bank downgraded Palm, Inc (NASDAQ: PALM) to Sell from Hold.
  
• BMO Capital downgraded shares of Carrizo Oil & Gas Incorporated (NASDAQ: CRZO) to Market Perform from Outperform.
  
• Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Cemex (NYSE: CX) to Equal Weight from Overweight.
  
• Barnes & Noble Inc (NYSE: BKS) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Matrix.

Analyst downgrades 6-29-07: KOMG, GYI and RURL originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In his Block Trader Oil & Gas, Peter Way follows the big hedge funds and market makers to find out what they are doing. Here's a look at his top oil plays.

He observes, "The hedgers at the NYMEX are protecting their crude oil positions in ways that indicate they see continuing upward pressure on prices."

Based on this hedging activity, he states, "The outlook for the next 12 expiration months that the by major players at the crude oil table suggest little lasting price weakness, and a general level prevailing above $70 over the remainder of the year."

What are the best stocks to buy to bet on the trend for firm oil prices? To decide, Peter Way looks at the buying patterns of market makers -- the big boys on the trading floor.

From their positions, he notes, "Among the large oil producers, China's CNOOC, Ltd. (NYSE: CEO), Canadian Natural Resources, Ltd. (NYSE: CNQ), and Suncor Energy (NYSE: SU) all combine historically strong odds and payoffs."

In addition, he notes positive market maker activity among oil exploration & production stocks. He explains, "With significant quantities of low-cost reserves already found, and prospects for additional finds tied up, these companies inevitably will get acquired by bigger producers whose customer demands exceed their yearly reserve findings."

For many, he says, it's just a matter of time. Notable stocks in the stock, he adds, are Holly Corp. (NYSE: HOC), Carrizo Oil & Gas (NASDAQ: CRZO), Range Resources (NYSE: RRC), Southwest Energy (NYSE: SWN), Ultra Petroleum (NYSE: UPL), and Talisman Energy (NYSE: TLM).

For more stock picks from the leading financial newsletter advisors, visit Steven Halpern's free daily website, TheStockAdvisors.com.

Block traders target oil exploration and production stocks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 14 Jun 2007 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.