Analyst upgrades:

• JP Morgan lowered its 2009 North American light vehicle production estimate by 13% to 11.2M and Europe by 10% to 19M. The firm upgraded Borg-Warner (NYSE: BWA) to Overweight from Neutral citing balance sheet and revenue growth.
  
• Jefferies upgraded shares of Kroger (NYSE: KR) to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $32 from $28 as they expect the company's value image to benefit in the current environment.
  
• Leerink upgraded AMAG Pharma (NASDAQ: AMAG) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation as they believe current data is sufficient for some form of first cycle approval of Ferumoxytol.
• Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch.
  
• Watsco (NYSE: WSO) was raised to Perform from Underperform at Oppenheimer.
  
• UBS upgraded Invitrogen (NASDAQ: IVGN) to Buy from Neutral.

• Jefferies downgraded shares of Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI) to Underperform from Buy and lowered its target to $9.50 from $23 on the worsening macro environment, which they believe is "overwhelming" the company's ability to drive even flat comps in Q4 and FY09.
  
• Deutsche Bank cut Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) to Hold from Buy and lowered its target to $19 from $28 following the company's worse-than-expected outlook, as they expect shares to be range bound.
  
• Banc of America downgraded the Dry Bulk Shipping sector to Equal Weight from Overweight to reflect the "depressed" charter rate environment, tighter credit markets and the weakening macroeconomic outlook. The firm downgraded Britannia Bulk (NYSE: DWT), Navios Maritime (NYSE: NM) and TBS International (NASDAQ: TBSI) to Neutral from Buy.
• Eaton (NYSE: ETN) was lowered to Underperform from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
  
• AXA (NYSE: AXA) was downgraded at JP Morgan to Neutral from Overweight.
  
• Aracrus (NYSE: ARA) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: KR, CCE, WFMI, TWC, ANN ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: KR, CCE, WFMI, TWC, ANN ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 21 Oct 2008 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Baird upgraded Puget Energy (NYSE: PSD) to Outperform from Neutral citing valuation on a stand-alone basis and sees additional upside if the merger with Macquarie is approved this fall.
  
• Piper upgraded shares of RC2 Corp (NASDAQ: RCRC) to Buy from Neutral following the Children's Publishing Division acquisition as they view it as a good strategic fit and find RCRC shares attractively valued.
  
• RBC upgraded Marvel Entertainment (NYSE: MVL) shares to Outperform from Sector Perform to reflect the company's visible earnings growth and valuation.

• ASML Holdings (NASDAQ: ASML) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman. The firm also added shares to the Conviction Buy List.
  
• Invitrogen (NASDAQ: IVGN) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR) and Credence (NASDAQ: CMOS) to Hold from Sell.

Analyst upgrades: PSD, RCRC and MVL originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• UBS downgraded Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T) to Neutral from Buy citing the weak economy and increased wireless competition.
  
• Banc of America downgraded shares of Invitrogen (NASDAQ: IVGN) to Neutral from Buy as the company's acquisition of Applied Biosystems (NYSE: ABI) alters their investment thesis. The company's target was cut to $38 from $50.
  
• JP Morgan downgraded General Electric (NYSE: GE) to Neutral from Overweight citing further risk to earnings and dislocation from necessary portfolio management in 2009.

• Office Max (NYSE: OMX) was cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
  
• Goldman lowered Ryanair (NASDAQ: RYAAY) to Sell from Buy.
  
• WebMD Health (NASDAQ: WBMD) was downgraded to Sell from Source of Funds at ThinkPanmure.

Analyst downgrades: VZ, T, IVGN, GE, OMX, RYAAY, WBMD originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Buying only stocks announcing splits, Neil Macneale has developed a leading long-term track record. His latest buy in his 2-for-1 newsletter is biotechnology research products firm Invitrogen (NASDAQ: IVGN).

"Wow, investing today is like riding a ping-pong ball; last month I was feeling quite glum about the market and cautioned that we were in for an extended period of below normal portfolio growth.

"That may still be true, but now, as we go to press, the portfolio is at its all-time high and there is reason to believe most stocks we have picked are going to do much better than the overall market.

"Meanwhile, with splits so few and far between these days, one thing is certain; companies that do announce splits deserve a very close look. Our latest selection is Invitrogen. Its primary business is assembling and selling kits used in biotech research.

"I view this as selling the shovels and tents to the gold miners. During the California gold rush, it was the storekeepers that got rich while most of the miners went broke.

"IVGN is not ideal in that it pays no dividend and carries a moderate amount of debt. However, this is a strong business with a history of good earnings and good growth. The healthcare sector has been on the outs for a while now and it's probably a good time to get a biotech company into the portfolio."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers the latest market commentary and favorite investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

Invitrogen (IVGN): A 'split' candidate buy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"Our favorite speculative pick for 2008 is (NASDAQ: IVGN)," says Daniel Frishberg, editor of The MoneyMan Report and host of BizRadio.

"Invitrogen is a $4.5 billion company that markets tools in kit form and provides other research products and services to corporate, academic, and government entities. The company has over 25,000 products.

"The company is also involved in stem cells, which are cells in an early stage human embryo that have the potential to turn into any other type of cells, e.g., heart, nerve, kidney, pancreas, etc.

"There has been much debate about stem cell research due to the killing of an embryo. However, a major breakthrough suggests that stem cells can be created from your own skin cells.

Continue reading Best Stocks for 2008: Stem cells add new market to Invitrogen (IVGN)

Best Stocks for 2008: Stem cells add new market to Invitrogen (IVGN) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.