Stanford raised Fluor (NYSE: FLR) to Hold from Sell primarily due to valuation.
Citigroup upgraded Cadence Designs (NASDAQ: CDNS) to Buy from Hold because they think the company's cost restructuring initiative and its new CFO will be catalysts for the shares.
Analyst downgrades:
Stephens dropped Ann Taylor (NYSE: ANN) to Equal Weight from Overweight because they no longer view LOFT as a compelling reason to invest in the company.
Citigroup downgraded Hershey (NYSE: HSY) to Hold from Buy on valuation.
KeyBanc dropped Lennox (NYSE: LII) to Hold from Buy on valuation.
Analyst initiations:
Coverage of Hershey was assumed with a Sell by Stifel, which cited valuation for its rating.
Leerink Swann resumed coverage of Cardionet (NASDAQ: BEAT) with an Outperform, as the firm predicts that the company's technolgoy will enable it to grow substantially.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: IBM, Entropic Comm and FARO Tech were today's noteworthy initiations:
BMO Capital is positive on IBM (NYSE: IBM) given the company's reduced pension and stock buyback, opportunity to increase the mix of software, new mainframe cycle, and the company's diverse revenue stream. Shares were initiated with an Outperform rating and $138 target.
Merriman views Entropic Comm (NASDAQ: ENTR) as a core holding for investors seeking exposure to the rapidly growing home networking market and finds the current valuation attractive; the firm started shares with a Buy rating.
Friedman Billings assumed FARO Tech (NASDAQ: FARO) with an Outperform rating and $42 target. The firm expects FARO's secular growth to drive sales as the company's products meet the needs of the largest emerging market for software-based manufacturing measurement systems.
OTHER INITIATIONS:
Oppenheimer initiated MedAssets (NASDAQ: MDAS) with a Perform rating and $20 target.
Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) was initiated at Baird with a Neutral rating and $29 target.
LoopNet (NASDAQ: LOOP) was assumed with an Equal Weight rating and $15 target at Stephens.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Energizer Holdings, Inc (ENR), Gilead Sciences, Inc (GILD), Intel Corp (INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) were some of today's more noteworthy upgrades:
Prudential upgraded Energizer Holdings Inc (NYSE: ENR) to Neutral from Underweight. The firm said Energizer has been overly focused on the negative potential of cost inflation without fully appreciating the positive mix shift being generated by faster growth of high-margin specialty products and new products that indicate innovation and a competitive edge.
Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Leerink Swann following Gilead's strong quarter.
FTN Midwest upgraded shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE: AMD) and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) to Buy from Neutral as the firm believes they are seeing the beginnings of a truce with between the two companies which could lead to higher ASPs.
OTHER UPGRADES:
CNOOC Ltd (NYSE: CEO) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan to reflect the company's prospects for production growth.
.gif){kind=logo}
Analyst upgrades:.gif){kind=logo}
Best & Worst in Money 2008: Most shocking financial collapse
Closing Bell: Stocks slump as AMD, AT&T, GM and Merck decline
Global Q&A: A rocky road, but profits ahead
