MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• UBS is positive on Genentech Inc's (NYSE: DNA) leading industry franchises and potential upside from development projects and started shares with a Buy rating and $101 target.
  
• HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HBC) was assumed with a Reduce rating at WestLB, as the firm believes subprime concerns may hold back shares in the near-term.
  
• Jefferies initiated shares of SunTech Power Holdings (NYSE: STP) with a Buy rating and $45 target. The firm believes the company is positioned to beat 2007 and 2008 expectations by ramping manufacturing capacity and production faster than expected.
  
• Jefferies also resumed coverage of SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR) with a Hold rating and $90 target, citing valuation, but believes the stock's higher multiple is justified given the company's superior growth potential.
  
• Force Protection Inc (NASDAQ: FRPT) was initiated with a Market Perform rating and Friedman Billings, as they believe near-term production expectations are too high given emerging DOD funding issues.

• Lehman started shares of Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) with an Overweight rating.
  
• UBS started shares of RF Micro Devices (NASDAQ: RFMD) with a Neutral rating.
  
• Cowen resumed coverage of Savient Pharmaeuticals Inc (NASDAQ: SVNT) with an Outperform rating.
  
• Morgan Keegan started shares of Heartland Payment Systems Inc (NYSE: HPY) with a Market Perform rating.

Analyst initiations: DNA, HBC, STP, SPWR and FRPT originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 Sep 2007 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Schering-Plough Corp (NYSE: SGP) was downgraded to Market Perform from Strong Buy at Raymond James, to Neutral from Overweight at HSBC and to Hold from Buy at AG Edwards on valuation.

• HSBC also cut Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE: LUV) to Neutral from Overweight.

• Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Freidman Billings and to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch following its first quarter miss.

• Stifel downgraded Robert Half International (NYSE: RHI) to Sell from Hold after its disappointing first quarter report.

• Stifel also cut Heartland Express Inc (NASDAQ: HTLD) to Hold from Buy on valuation.

• Jefferies downgraded shares of RightNow Technologies (NASDAQ: RNOW) to Hold from Buy with a $17 target. William Blair downgraded RightNow to Market Perform from Outperform based on the company's sales organization changes and weak bookings.

• Shares of CBRL Group, Inc (NASDAQ: CBRL) were downgraded at JP Morgan to Neutral from Overweight based on difficult near-term fundamentals and limited visibility.

• Baird cut HNI Corp (NYSE: HNI) to Underperform from Neutral.

• China Eastern Airlines (NYSE: CEA) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

• Brean Murray downgraded Genitope (NASDAQ: GTOP) to Sell from Hold.

• Sandler O'Neill downgraded shares of Capitol Bancorp Ltd (NYSE: CBC) to Sell from Hold.

Analyst downgrades 4-20-07: CBRL, COF, LUV and SGP downgraded today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Wachovia upgraded the trucking sector to Market Weight from Underweight, as they believe the negative sentiment towards the group is starting to bottom, also noting that trucking stocks tend to rally before fundamentals fully bottom. Wachovia upgraded Con-Way Inc (NYSE: CNW) and Covenant Transport 'A' NASDAQ: CVTI) to Outperform from Market Perform, and Arkansas Best (NASDAQ: ABFS), Heartland Express Inc (NASDAQ: HTLD), Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN), US Xpress Enterprises 'A' (NASDAQ: XPRSA) to Market Perform from Underperform.

• JP Morgan added PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) to their Focus List, as the firm believes the recent pullback due to concerns over commodities costs and margins is overdone.

• Janco upgraded Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) to Buy from Hold with a $69 target, citing valuation.

• Amgen Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN) was upgraded to Outperform from Peer Perform with a $77 target at Bear Stearns; the firm views Amgen's risk/reward as favorable as the most reasonable of CERA's launch scenarios, owned by Roche Holdings AG (OTC: RHHBY), are priced into valuation, and sees significant upside if CERA does not launch.

• Caris upgraded LSI Logic (NYSE: LSI) to Buy from Above Average with a $12 target; they believe investors are underestimating the synergies involved with the Agere Systems (NYSE: AGR) deal. The broker sees upside to earnings estimates and raised their target of LSI Logic to $12 from $11.

• Merrill Lynch upgraded shares of ImClone Systems (NASDAQ: IMCL) to Neutral from Sell, and sees a short-term trading opportunity due to the overly negative sentiment into the upcoming sales figures. The broker thinks Imclone could meet its Erbitux sales estimates despite weak prescription data.

Analyst upgrades 1-4-07: ERTS, trucking sector upgraded originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Jan 2007 11:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.