- FBR Capital upgraded Overseas Shipholding (NYSE: OSG) to Outperform from Market Perform following the Q3 results as it believes the worst quarters are behind the company. The firm raised its target on shares to $48 from $35.
- Deutsche Bank upgraded Corporate Executive Board (NASDAQ: EXBD) to Hold from Sell following the Q3 results to reflect the company's lower costs. The firm raised its target on shares to $22 from $18.
- RBC Capital upgraded Enbridge (NYSE: EEQ) to Sector Perform from Underperform after the company's partnership produced significantly higher than expected DCF. In addition, the firm raised its price target by $5 per unit to $46 to reflect an improved distribution schedule and more favorable debt leverage.
- Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
- BioForm Medical (NASDAQ: BFRM) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
- Alliance Data Systems (NYSE: ADS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at SunTrust.
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FeedAnalyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ART, BBY, HEV, NVDA, OSG, RDS.A ...
Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: ART, BBY, HEV, NVDA, OSG, RDS.A ...
Cramer on BloggingStocks: The health care bargain
Health care's not done rallying. As President Obama prepared himself for claiming a great political victory, we are all recognizing that the single-payer, socialized medicine covering cradle-to-grave, 100% paid for by the rich, the fear that left all things health care in the P/E dustbin, is dead. That's not going to happen.
That leaves us with the biggest bargains the market has to offer.
Health care has never been this lowly valued relative to the market in its history. Remember, 98% of the time it trades at a meaningful premium. I think that many believe some of these moves (like the Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG) (Cramer's Take) move) is because of gigantic new drug finds. In fact, I think they just got too cheap and the only thing really meaningful about the Celgene rally came because one of its Revlimid studies was stopped for good results, actually a predictable event given how well the drug works on many different kinds of cancers.
Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: The health care bargain
Cramer on BloggingStocks: Someone will lead the inevitable turnaround
TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says these are the stocks that you should watch. Some stocks have just been totally given up on, as if nothing good can ever happen to them. Check out Masco (NYSE: MAS) (Cramer's Take) , for example. Masco's a great company, always has been -- a dominant supplier to the housing industry, both remodel and original. This company, which MAKES money, is selling at almost a 5% yield and no one cares.
Or how about Fortune Brands (NYSE: FO) (Cramer's Take)? It has a terrific housing component -- dominant player -- and one of the best spirits businesses. We found out from Diageo (NYSE: DEO) recently that they have a great business in spirits, and the company may be on the verge of getting Absolut, a fantastic brand. The stock trades at an amazingly low multiple. Or consider Black & Decker (NYSE: BDK) (Cramer's Take) , one the great innovators with a classically pro-shareholder bias.
These companies are making good money in the worst environment imaginable. They have decent balance sheets. When this period ends, they will be dominant players, taking share from everyone.
Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Someone will lead the inevitable turnaround
Inverness' tests provide answers to very important questions
The choppy/consolidating (or perhaps worse) market conditions sometimes give the impression that growth plays do not exist, but that is not the case, and one growth company worth reviewing is Inverness Medical Innovations.
Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc. (NYSE: IMA) is a manufacturer of consumer and professional products including home pregnancy tests and fertility monitors, such as Clearblue Easy, Fact Plus, and Accu-Clear.
The company also makes diagnostic, infectious disease and serum cholesterol level testing products, and vitamins/nutritional products.
Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc. (NYSE: IMA) is a manufacturer of consumer and professional products including home pregnancy tests and fertility monitors, such as Clearblue Easy, Fact Plus, and Accu-Clear.
The company also makes diagnostic, infectious disease and serum cholesterol level testing products, and vitamins/nutritional products.
Continue reading Inverness' tests provide answers to very important questions
Analyst upgrades 6-15-07: DIS, HANS, INTC, MVL and NFLX
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Intel Corp (INTC), Hansen Natural Corp (HANS), Netflix, Inc (NFLX), Marvel Entertainment, Inc (MVL) and Walt Disney Co (DIS) were today's more noteworthy upgrades: - Goldman upgraded shares of Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC) to Buy from Neutral as they believe Advanced Micro Devices' (AMD) likely move to an outsourced business model will make it easier for the company to retain a product advantage.
- Goldman also upgraded shares of Hansen Natural Corp (NASDAQ: HANS) to Buy from Neutral based on expectations for sales and earnings acceleration in 2H07, driven by recent distribution agreements, a potential European distribution deal and the possibility of a share buyback.
- Soleil upgraded shares of Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) to Buy from Hold on valuation as they believe the company will overcome the challenge from Blockbuster (BBI) and outperform the current sentiment.
- Matrix believes strong demand for licensed character products is boosting Marvel Entertainment's (NYSE: MVL) sales and raised its rating on the company to Hold from Strong Sell.
- SMH Capital upgraded The Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS) to Buy from Neutral as they believe the Street may be underestimating the free cash flow and earnings power within the Media Networks unit...
- Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc (NASDAQ: TRMP) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Morgan Joseph.
- LG Phillips LCD Co, Ltd (NYSE: LPL) was raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
- Cowen raised Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc (AMEX: IMA) to Neutral from Underperform.
- Jefferies upgraded shares of The Pantry, Inc (NASDAQ: PTRY) to Buy from Hold.
- Gold Fields Ltd (NYSE: GFI) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital.
Analyst upgrades 6-06-07: MCO, NGS; BAS and CPX
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Oil and gas services companies, mining companies and Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO) were today's noteworthy upgrades: - Morgan Keegan upgraded Natural Gas Services Group Inc (AMEX: NGS), Basic Energy Services Inc (NYSE: BAS) and Complete Production Services Inc (NYSE: CPX) to Outperform from Market Perform and Patterson-UTI Energy Inc (NASDAQ: PTEN) to Market Perform from Underperform, as the firm has a bullish outlook for drilling activity in the back half of 2007 and into 2008.
- JP Morgan upgraded shares of both Compania de Minas Buenaventu (NYSE: BVN) and Goldcorp Inc (NYSE: GG) to Overweight from Neutral on valuation.
- Moody's was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley, citing increased confidence in revenue outlook and growth drivers.
- Inverness Medical Innovations Inc (AMEX: IMA) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
- Credit Suisse upgraded shares of Johnson Controls Inc (NYSE: JCI) to Outperform from Neutral, citing growth outlook in the company's building efficiency business.
- Allianz SE (NYSE: AZ) was upgraded to Buy from Add at WestLB on valuation and the company's strong Q1 results.
Analyst downgrades 4-05-07: Honda Motor, Micron Tech & CSX Corp downgraded today
MOST NOTEWORTHY: CACI International Inc (CAI), SAIC, Inc (SAI), CenturyTel, Inc (CTL), Honda Motor Co (HMC) and Micron Technology, Inc (MU) were today's noteworthy downgrades: - Morgan Stanley downgraded CACI International (NYSE: CAI) and SAIC Inc (NYSE: SAI) to Underweight from Equal Weight to reflect concerns over an increasingly unfavorable political environment as the risk of reduced funding for federal IT initiatives grows.
- Soleil downgraded shares of CenturyTel (NYSE: CTL) to Sell from Hold on valuation and a possibly active hurricane season.
- Honda Motor Co (NYSE: HMC) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.
- Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs as the firm believes improvements in DRAM pricing will be short lived and that the company will continue to generate losses given its poor cost structure.
- CSX Corp (NYSE: CSX) was downgraded to Reduce from Neutral at Calyon on valuation and deteriorating volume.
- Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK) was cut to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan.
- Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc (AMEX: IMA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel.
- WebSideStory, Inc (NASDAQ: WSSI) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC, citing short-term execution risks.
- Jefferies downgraded Cerner Corp (NASDAQ: CERN) to Hold from Buy.
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