- Keefe Bruyette upgraded Goldman Sachs (GS) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $190 price target following the company's Q2 results. The firm believes the company's settlement with the SEC removes an overhang on shares.
- Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Health Care REIT (HCN) to Buy from Hold based on valuation and added shares to the Stifel REIT Income List. The firm has a $47 target on the stock.
- FBR Capital upgraded Annaly Capital (NLY) to Outperform from Market Perform citing the company's surprise dividend increase. The firm has a $20 target on the stock.
- Devon Energy (DVN) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
- Overseas Shipholding (OSG) was upgraded to Overweight from Underweight at JP Morgan.
- Cintas (CTAS) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Baird.
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FeedAnalyst Calls: GS, HCN, NLY, YHOO, GILD, BBG, WLL, JOYG, BUCY
Analyst upgrades:
Continue reading Analyst Calls: GS, HCN, NLY, YHOO, GILD, BBG, WLL, JOYG, BUCY
Analyst initiations: Gen-Probe, iRobot, Emeritus
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Gen-Probe, iRobot and Emeritus were today's noteworthy initiations:
- RBC Capital expects Gen-Probe Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO) to continue to generate high margin, annuity-like revenue from its core business while new tests with good long-term growth. Shares were initiated with an Outperform rating and $66 target.
- Kaufman Brothers believes robotics technology is more than just a fad and that iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT) is well-positioned given its innovation applications and innovative applications that create new solutions to existing issues; Kaufman started iRobot with a Buy rating and $22 target.
- Jefferies believes Emeritus Corp. (AMEX: ESC), initiated with a Buy rating, is well-positioned to drive superior cash flow growth given favorable/stable industry fundamentals and renewed operational focus.
OTHER INITIATIONS:
- Piper assumed Comverge Inc. (NASDAQ: COMV) with a Buy rating and $17 target.
- Morgan Stanley initiated Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd. (NYSE: EXM) with an Overweight rating.
- Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ: TRIN) was initiated at JP Morgan with a Neutral rating.
Analyst initiations: ARUN, BX and ESC
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Aruba Networks (ARUN), the aesthetic energy devices sector and Emeritus Corp (ESC) were today's noteworthy initiations: - JP Morgan initiated shares of Aruba Networks (NASDAQ: ARUN) with a Neutral rating. The firm believes Aruba shares are fully valued at these levels and reflects strong growth with operating leverage.Pacific Crest believes Aruba, initiated with a Sector Perform rating and $19 target, is a strong alternative to Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) in the WLAN market and its strong position as a point vendor makes the company an attractive acquisition candidate.
- Leerink Swann estimates the aesthetic energy devices sector is likely to experience 20% revenue growth over the next five years. The firm finds Thermage (NASDAQ: THRM) a turnaround-story which has a compelling mix of revenues from disposable tips while Cynosure (NASDAQ: CYNO) is capitalizing successfully on new product cycles with Affirm and SmartLipo. Palomar Medical Technologies (NASDAQ: PMTI) is viewed as the IP leader for hair removal products; Leerink initiated Thermage and Cynosure with Outperform ratings and Palomar with a Market Perform rating.
- Emeritus Corp (AMEX: ESC) was initiated with a Buy rating and $33 target at Stifel, which believes ESC has one of the best cash earnings growth stories among any of the traded senior housing companies.
- CE Unterberg started shares of Synchronoss (NASDAQ: SNCR) with a Buy rating and $41 target.
- Rodman & Renshaw started shares of Array Biopharma (NASDAQ: ARRY) and Tapestry Pharma (NASDAQ: TPPH) with Market Outperform ratings and an $18 target and $5 target, respectively.
- Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) was initiated with an Overweight rating and $41 target at Morgan Stanley.
IPO & secondary preview -- Week of June 25, 2007
Just call it the last equity blast before summer. Wall Street's equity market offers a full schedule this week, as lead managers and companies attempt to capture as much buy-side demand as possible a week before the shorter 4th of July week, which is traditionally the start of a lighter syndicate period on Wall Street.All told, 11 IPOs and 8 Secondaries are on the docket. Those deals tentatively scheduled to price include:
IPOs:
Tuesday
- GSC Acquistion (GGA), a 15M-share IPO for this business financing company. Ladenburg, Thalman & Co. and I-Bankers Securities are the lead managers. Filing price: $10.00.
- Spectra Energy Partners LP (SEP), a 10M-share IPO for this natural gas MLP. Citigroup and Lehman Brothers are the lead managers. Filing range: $19.00-$21.00.
Continue reading IPO & secondary preview -- Week of June 25, 2007
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