MOST NOTEWORTHY: Melco PBL Entertainment, Helen of Troy, LHC Group and Oriental Financial were today's noteworthy initiations:
Jefferies initiated shares of Melco PBL Entertainment (NASDAQ: MPEL) with a Buy rating and $21 target, as they believe the possibility of A-Max, a VIP junket consolidator, moving up to 10 junkets to the Crown Casino could lead to short-term gains and notes that MPEL is the only Macau pure play in the U.S. stock market.
Jefferies also started shares of Helen of Troy (NASDAQ: HELE) with a Hold rating and $21 target, as they sees risks to near-term EPS from soft consumer demand and gross margin pressures.
Credit Suisse expects LHC Group's (NASDAQ: LHCG) rural-focused strategy and joint venture partnerships to drive organic growth and started shares off with an Outperform rating and $26 target.
Oriental Financial Group (NYSE: OFG) was initiated at B. Riley with a Neutral rating and $12.50 target. The firm does not expect significant multiple expansion from current levels given the slow Puerto Rican economy.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Alcoa Inc (AA), Marvell Technology Group Ltd (MRVL) Under Armour, Inc (UA), Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS) and QLogic Corp (QLGC) topped today's list of noteworthy upgrades:
RBC Capital upgraded Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA) to Sector Perform from Underperform following the bid by Alcan Inc (NYSE: AL).
Marvell Technology Group Ltd (NASDAQ MRVL) was upgraded to buy from Neutral with a $23 target at Oppenheimer based on valuation and the improvements made to HDD PC/Desktop.
Morgan Stanley raised shares of Under Armor Inc (NYSE: UA) to Equal Weight from Underweight with a $47 target, based on valuation and long-term growth.
Stifel upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) to Buy from Hold with a $100 target citing valuation.
Morgan Keegan upgraded shares of QLogic Corp (NASDAQ: QLGC) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation and expectations for strong sequential growth to resume in 2H07.
OTHER UPGRADES:
Friedman Billings upgraded shares of Sonic Corp (NASDAQ: SONC) to Outperform from Peer Perform.
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MOST NOTEWORTHY: Melco PBL Entertainment, Helen of Troy, LHC Group and Oriental Financial were today's noteworthy initiations:
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