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Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BHP, MRK, LUV, MA, AAUK ...

Analyst upgrades:
  • ING believes BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) will grow through acquisitions and is in a good position relative to peers. Shares were upgraded to Buy from Hold.
  • KeyBanc upgraded Kaman (NASDAQ: KAMN) to Buy from Hold based on valuation, higher foreign 2009 sales, and exposure to the military helicopter market, among other reasons.
  • Merck (NYSE: MRK) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Banc of Amerca/Merrill on valuation.
  • J Crew (JCG) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette.
  • UBS upgraded Expeditors (NASDAQ: EXPD) to Neutral from Sell.
  • CVB Financial (NASDAQ: CVBF) was raised to Hold from Sell at Sandler O'Neill.
Analyst downgrades:
  • Morgan Stanley downgraded Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) to Equal Weight from Overweight and lowered their target to $25 from $26 based on valuation and high Street estimates given lower oil prices and weaker currency.
  • CIBC downgraded Louisiana Pacific (NYSE: LPX) to Sector Performer from Outperformer. The analyst believes LPX may have to issue equity at these depressed levels given the tight credit markets and ongoing cash losses.
  • Calyon downgraded Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) to Sell from Underperform and lowered their target to $7 from $8. The firm recommends taking profits in Southwest due to unit cost challenges given slowing growth and its reduced fuel hedging program.
  • CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein.
  • Keefe Bruyette downgraded shares of Amcore Financial (NASDAQ: AMFI) to Market Perform from Outperform.
  • Anglo American (NASDAQ: AAUK) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Royal Bank of Scotland.
Analyst initiations:
  • Citigroup believes MasterCard (NYSE: MA) is vulnerable to the consumer spending slowdown and expects a more cautious outlook from management when the company reports earnings. Shares were initiated with a Sell rating and $110 target.
  • Janney Montgomery initiated GameStop (NYSE: GME) with a Buy rating and $34.50 target and expects GameStop to benefit from the secular growth in gaming, potential hardware cuts, international expansion, and 2009 title visibility.
  • Jefferies assumed Chicago Bridge & Iron (NYSE: CBI) with a Hold rating and $13 target and expects shares to be range-bound until the company shows progress on project execution and margin performance.
  • Gran Tierra Energy (GTE) was initiated at Wunderlich with a Buy rating.
  • Coverage of CME Group (AMEX: CME) was resumed with an Underweight rating at JP Morgan.
  • Shanda (NASDAQ: SNDA) was initiated with a Hold rating and $30 target at Roth Capital.

Analyst initiations 5-09-07: ADBE, ADSK, DAL and DSX

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Delta Air Lines (DAL), Diana Shipping Inc (DSX), Adobe Systems Inc (ADBE), Eagle Materials, Inc (EXP), ACR Group (BRR) and Autodesk, Inc (ADSK) were today's noteworthy initiations:
  • Goldman is positive on Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL), starting shares with a Buy rating and $25 target based on above average growth, best-in-class unit costs, free cash flow and less labor cost risk.
  • Diana Shipping (NYSE: DSX) was started at JP Morgan with an Overweight rating based on valuation and positioning. Lazard started Diana with a Buy rating, expecting demand for dry bulk shipping will outperform supply through 2010.
  • Soleil expects Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) recently released Creative Suite 3 to be the near-and-medium term growth driver and started shares with a Buy rating.
  • JP Morgan started Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE: EXP) with an Underweight rating, expecting a decline in wallboard industry profitability due to increased capacity and lower demand.
  • B. Riley started ACR Group (AMEX: BRR) with a Buy rating calling the stock "cheap."
  • Soleil believes a catch up on the Autodesk's (NASDAQ: ADSK) SEC filings and a strong Q1 will prove near-term catalysts and started shares off with a Buy rating and $56 target.
OTHER INITIATIONS:
  • Banc of American started Verigy Ltd (NASDAQ: VRGY) with a Buy rating and $32 target.
  • Stephens initiated Kaman Corp (NASDAQ: KAMN) with an Overweight rating and $34 target.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+73.0010,270.47
NASDAQ+18.862,167.88
S&P 500+6.241,093.48

Last updated: November 14, 2009: 09:02 AM

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