MOST NOTEWORTHY: HouseValues, Inc (SOLD), Fortune Brands (FO), D.R. Horton (DHI), Dicks Sporting Goods (DKS) and USG Corp (USG) were some of today's noteworthy initiations:
- Cantor believes HouseValues (NASDAQ: SOLD) may be a lagging indicator of the broader real estate market. As such, it may see its customer and revenue bases contract further in the face of still-sluggish housing data and started shares with a Hold rating.
- Pali Research initiated Fortune Brands (NYSE: FO) with a Neutral rating based on valuation.
- The firm also believes D.R. Horton's (NYSE: DHI) risk to book value and profitability is higher than some of the competition since the company has taken significantly less land charges. Shares were initiated with a Hold rating.
- Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS) was initiated with an Outperform at Baird and is positive on Dick's store expansion, market leadership, margin opportunities and fundamentals.
- USG (NYSE: USG) was initiated with a Sell rating at Banc of America, believing wallboard price and profit declines will be worse than expected due to lower housing starts and less spending on remodeling. Their analysis suggests another leg down for housing...
OTHER INITIATIONS:
- Merrill Lynch initiated Bayer AG (NYSE: BAY) with a Buy rating and UBS initiated QLogic (NASDAQ: QLGC) with a Neutral rating.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).
What Happened When Alex Kenjeev Paid His Student Loan in Cash
Preserve Your Budget by Freezing Foods -- Savings Experiment
Goldman Earnings Sink After Buffett Dividend
Johnson & Johnson's Income Falls 23%
Burberry Shares Leap on Sales Update
