Analyst Upgrades

• Ryder (R) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• HCP (HCP) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Hertz Global (HTZ) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Lincoln National (LNC) to buy from neutral and T. Rowe Price (TROW) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Protective Life (PL) and Janus Capital (JNS) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Newell Rubbermaid (NWL) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• National Instruments (NATI) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Team Health (TMH) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

Analyst upgrades:

• Stephens upgraded The Andersons (NASDAQ: ANDE) to Overweight from Equal Weight on expectations the company is benefiting from good space income opportunities and better ethanol profitability. The firm raised its target price to $31 from $28.
  
• Jefferies upgraded NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) to Buy from Hold as the analyst believes Exelon (NYSE: EXC) will have to materially raise its offer to close the acquisition. The firm raised its target on shares to $25 from $22.50.
  
• FBR Capital upgraded FMC Technologies (NYSE: FTI) to Outperform from Market Perform after meeting with management to reflect the company's 2011 growth potential. The firm raised its target on shares to $51.
• J. Sainsbury (OTC: JSAIY) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  
• SVB Financial (NASDAQ: SIVB) and Fulton Financial (NASDAQ: FULT) were upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital.

Analyst upgrades:

• Thomas Weisel upgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) to Market Weight from Underweight. Thomas Weisel said they are less negative on the outlook for memory industry dynamics but they do expect SanDisk shares to be range bound.
  
• Citigroup upgraded shares of Hershey (NYSE:HSY) to Buy from Hold as they believe Hershey is benefiting from increased advertising spending and the consumer trade-down to less expensive chocolate. The firm maintains a $39 target on the stock.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) to Buy from Holdas they believe the company will be a beneficiary from the Circuit City liquidation.
• Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
  
• Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) and Virgin Media (NASDAQ:VMED) were raised to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
  
• NewMarket (NYSE:NEU) was upgraded at KeyBanc to Buy from Hold.

Analyst downgrades:

• Citigroup downgraded Kellogg (NYSE:K) to Hold from Buy as they believe the company's U.S. trends are decelerating and that FX trends will have a negative impact. The firm lowered their target price to $47 from $58.
  
• Jefferies downgraded Cerner (NASDAQ:CERN) to Hold from Buy following Eclipsys' (NASDAQ:ECLP) negative pre-announcement as they believe both companies are suffering from a downturn in hospital spending. Jefferies lowered their target on Cerner to $38 from $51.
  
• Oppenheimer cut Amdocs (DOX) to Perform from Outperform following the weak Q1 results citing lack of near-term catalysts and the macroeconomic slowdown.
• Eclipsys (NASDAQ:ECLP)was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Jefferies and to Neutral from Buy at Piper Jaffray.
  
• PetSmart (NASDAQ:PETM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  
• Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) was lowered to Underperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette.

Analyst initiations:

• Wunderlich initiated Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) with a Buy rating and $30 target and believes the company should enjoy sustainable pricing leverage following the merger with Waste Management.
  
• RBC Capital initiated Elan Corp (NYSE:ELN) with an Underperform rating and $4 target based on Tysabri uncertainty, bapineuzumab clinical risk, MS competition, and debt overhang.
  
• Oppenheimer expects Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) to become an aggressive acquirer of financially distressed biotech companies with the completion of the acquisition of Pharmacopeia. Shares were assumed with an Outperform rating and $5 target.
• Zebra Tech (NASDAQ:ZBRA) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $25 target at JP Morgan.
  
• Activision (NASDAQ:ATVI) was reinitiated at Friedman Billings with an Outperform rating and $14 target.
  
• Ameren (NYSE:AEE) was assumed with a Hold rating at Jesup & Lamont.

I think it's fair to say that there's much trepidation about the earnings season that picks up steam this week. And for better or worse, numbers from the big financials have begun to roll in. Last week we saw profit sink for JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and significant losses from Bank of American Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), and Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB).

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) to be among those financials reporting fourth-quarter earnings growth this week. They anticipate that Bank of New York will post a profit of $0.70 per share, compared to $0.67 per share a year ago and $0.72 in the previous quarter. Revenue is expected come to $3.8 billion, about the same as it was a year ago. Bank of New York has fallen short of earnings estimates in two of the past five quarters, by as much as 11.1%. For the full year, analysts are looking for $2.78 per share (+5.8%) on $14.8 billion (+4.2%). The consensus recommendation of analysts is to buy BK, and the long-term EPS growth rate forecast is 10.7%. Shares are 48.7% lower than a year ago. Other financials expected to report quarterly earnings growth this week include SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI) and M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB).

Analyst upgrades:

• Philip Morris (NYSE: PM) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Friedman Billings upgraded shares of Principal Financial (NYSE: PFG) to Market Perform from Underperform as they believe the company's capital buffer could keep outrunning credit losses.
  
• Friedman Billings also upgraded Office Max (NYSE: OMX) to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm believes the risk of recourse to Office Max from the Timber Notes formerly backed by Lehman is low and that any litigation by noteholders will have a low level of success.
  
• Citigroup upgraded CF Industries (NYSE: CF) to Buy from Hold on valuation following the recent weakness but lowered their target to $113 from $128.
• Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
  
• Granite Construction (NYSE: GVA) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
  

Analyst downgrades:

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Glu Mobile, USA Technologies and Fulton Financial were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Merriman initiated Glu Mobile (NASDAQ: GLUU) with a Buy rating and thinks the valuation already reflects the potential effects of a slowdown in consumer spending. The firm believes shares have the potential to trade to a range of $8-$10.
  
• Merriman also started USA Technologies (NASDAQ: USAT) with a Buy rating. The firm believes the company is uniquely positioned in the wireless machine-to-machine market given its initial traction with Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE) and Mastercard (NYSE: MA) in deploying a cashless payment solution for the beverage vending industry.
  
• B. Riley believes Fulton Financial (NASDAQ: FULT) can return to its legacy of achieving consistent earnings growth with the resolution of the Resource Mortgage tribulations. The firm initiated shares with a Buy rating and $14 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• JP Morgan assumed Taser (NASDAQ: TASR) with an Overweight rating.
  
• Calyon initiated Rowan Cos (NYSE: RDC) with an Add rating and $42 target.
  
• Credit Suisse started VisionChina Media (NASDAQ: VISN) with an Outperform rating and $14 target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Vonage Holdings Corp (VG), General Maritime Corp (GMR), Newmont Mining Corp (NEM) and Edison International (EIX) were some of today's notable downgrades:

• Citigroup cut Vonage Holdings Corp (NYSE: VG) to Sell from Hold on patent litigation concerns as the firm believes the risk to profitability has increased.

• General Maritime Corp (NYSE: GMR) was downgraded to Sell from Hold on valuation with a $23 target.

• Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE: NEM) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at HSBC.

• Lehman downgraded shares of Edison International (NYSE: EIX) to Equal-Weight from Overweight on valuation.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Deutsche Bank cut Volvo (NASDAQ: VOLV) to Sell from Hold. Friedman, Billings, Ramsey downgraded shares of SafeNet, Inc (SFNT) based on the Vector acquisition.

• CIBC downgraded Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd (NYSE: AEM) to Sector Perform from Outperform on valuation as the firm expects an upcoming downward correction due to lower zinc prices.

• Ryan Beck cut Fulton Financial Corp (NASDAQ: FULT) to Market Perform from Outperform with a $16 target; SunTrust Robinson downgraded shares to Neutral from Buy due to the early payment defaults.

• Matrix cut Christopher & Banks Corp (NYSE: CBK) to Sell from Hold on valuation.

• Golden Star Resources Ltd (AMEX: GSS) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital.

• UBS cut Ingersoll-Rand Co Ltd (NYSE: IR) to Neutral from Buy with a $47 target.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).