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Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: VOD, CBS, BCS, MS, ICE, AU ...

Analyst upgrades:
  • Royal Bank of Scotland upgraded shares of Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) to Buy from Hold to reflect the company's dividend yield.
  • JMP Securities expects HFF Inc. (NYSE: HF) to benefit from increased U.S. commercial real estate sales and mortgage volumes. Shares were upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm has a $5 target on shares.
  • Oppenheimer upgraded Church & Dwight (NYSE: CHD) to Outperform from Perform as it believes Church & Dwight's value-oriented portfolio should continue to benefit from the consumer trade-down and that concerns over distribution are overblown. The firm set a $62 price on shares.
  • Regeneron (NASDAQ: REGN) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
  • Burlington Northern (NYSE: BNI) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
  • AMB Property (NYSE: AMB) was lifted to Neutral from Underperform at Banc of America/Merrill.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: VOD, CBS, BCS, MS, ICE, AU ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: PRXL, ANF, DISH, INTC, HNZ, MA, MET ...

Analyst upgrades:
  • William Blair upgraded Parexel (NASDAQ: PRXL) to Outperform from Market Perform on increased conviction in the company's earnings growth outlook following channel checks.
  • Friedman Billings upgraded UDR Inc (NYSE: UDR) to Outperform from Market Perform and raised its target to $22 from $26 citing the company's approximate 8% implied cap rate on is vastly improved apartment portfolio.
  • Citigroup upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) to Hold from Sell on valuation as they believe weak fundamentals are now priced into the stock.
  • Goldman upgraded Portland General Electric (NYSE: POR) to Buy from Neutral and added shares to the Conviction Buy List.
  • StellarOne (NASDAQ: STEL) and Union Bankshares (NASDAQ: UBSH) were upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Baird.
  • Bernstein upgraded DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH) to Market Perform from Underperform.
Analyst downgrades:
  • Deutsche Bank downgraded Align Tech (NASDAQ: ALGN) to Hold from Buy as they believe macroeconomic pressures will limit the company's ability to reach longer term growth expectations. Align's target was lowered to $8 from $14.
  • Jefferies downgraded shares of Advanced Medical (NYSE: EYE) to Underperform from Buy and lowered its target to $9 from $28 following the company's lowered guidance as they believe macroeconomic pressures affecting LASIK volumes and the unanticipated slowdown in lens care should put continued pressure on the stock.
  • ThinkPanmure expects the macro slowdown and credit crunch to slow Intel's (NASDAQ: INTC) growth and IT capex spending. The firm downgraded shares to Sell from Buy, lowered its 2009 EPS estimate to $1.01 from $1.35, vs. consensus of $1.46, and cut Intel's target to $12 from $24.
  • MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) was lowered to Neutral from Positive at Susquehanna.
  • Charles River Labs (NYSE: CRL) was downgraded at William Blair to Market Perform from Outperform.
  • Deutsche Bank cut Heinz (NYSE: HNZ) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA) to Hold from Buy.
Analyst initiations:
  • Old Second Bancorp (NASDAQ: OSBC) was initiated with a Market Perform rating and $17 target at Keefe Bruyette. The firm believes the company's exposure to strong markets should generate above-average returns.
  • Susquehanna assumed Affiliated Computer (NYSE: ACS) with a Positive rating and $55 target and is positive on the company's low levels of customer concentration and high levels of geographic diversification.
  • Cowen resumed coverage of AnnTaylor (NYSE: ANN) with a Neutral rating, citing the company's share loss to competitors and top-line weakness..
  • MetLife (NYSE: MET) was assumed with an Overweight rating at Morgan Stanley.
  • JMP Securities initiated HFF Inc (NYSE: HF) with a Market Perform rating.
  • Genpact (NYSE: G) was initiated at Susquehanna with a Neutral rating.

Analyst upgrades: MSC Industrial, Prudential plc, GrafTech

MOST NOTEWORTHY: MSC Industrial, Prudential plc and GrafTech were today's noteworthy upgrades:

  • William Blair upgraded shares of MSC Industrial (NYSE: MSM) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation and improved execution following the company's Q2 results.
  • Keefe Bruyette raised Prudential plc (NYSE: PUK) to Outperform from Underperform as they believe the company's targets will be exceeded.
  • Oppenheimer upgraded GrafTech (NYSE: GTI) to Outperform from Perform based on strong fundamentals, improving margins, and a strong 2008 order book.

OTHER UPGRADES:

  • HFF Inc. (NYSE: HF) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Lehman raised Canadian Natural (NYSE: CNQ) to Overweight from Equal Weight.

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA-154.4810,309.92
NASDAQ-37.612,138.44
S&P 500-19.141,091.49

Last updated: November 28, 2009: 02:29 AM

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