Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades and Initiations: BKC, BP, CVX, DIS, GLW, INTC, NAT ...

Eric Buscemi — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:40:00 EST

Analyst Upgrades

Citigroup upgraded Chevron (CVX) to buy from hold after raising its long-term oil price assumption to $80 per barrel from $65. The firm raised its target price for Chevron shares to $97 from $78 and said it expects oil prices to push towards $90 per barrel in the near-term. Note, Citi also upgraded BP (BP) and Petrobras (PBR) Monday morning to buy from hold.
Jefferies upgraded Overseas Shipholding (OSG) and Nordic American Tanker (NAT) to buy from underperform as it expects crude oil tanker charter rates to improve in 2010 based on expectations for increased OPEC production levels. The firm raised its target on Overseas Shipholding to $60 from $22 and on Nordic American to $41 from $25.
Goldman upgraded Corning (GLW) to buy from neutral as they believe the LCD cycle may have bottomed in 4Q09 vs. their previous expectation of 2H10. The firm raised its target to $23 from $18. Shares were also upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank on expectations that consensus estimates will trend higher due to robust TV demand and tight capacity. The firm raised its target price on shares to $24 from $19.
Lam Research (LRCX) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
Intel (INTC) was upgraded to hold from sell at Auriga.
Regal Entertainment (RGC) was upgraded to overweight from market weight at Thomas Weisel.

Analyst upgrades: NGG, SHPGY, ONNN and ENB

Eric Buscemi — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:00:00 EST

MOST NOTEWORTHY: National Grid, Shire Plc, On Semiconductor and Enbridge were today's noteworthy upgrades:

Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of National Grid (NYSE: NGG) to Buy from Hold as they believe the Keyspan deal will be positive for shareholders.
Goldman upgraded shares of Shire Plc (NASDAQ: SHPGY) to Buy from Neutral and added the stock to their Conviction Buy List on valuation and expected gains in the ADHD market.
On Semiconductor (NASDAQ: ONNN) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia on valuation.
Enbridge Inc (NYSE: ENB) was raised to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer at CIBC World Markets, as the firm sees an attractive 3-year return potential as new projects come into service and expects the stock's relative underperformance to come to an end.

OTHER UPGRADES:

Visteon Corporation (NYSE: VC) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.
RSC Holdings (NYSE: RRR) and Greenfield Online Inc (NASDAQ: SRVY) were upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Lehman Brothers.
Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
Stifel upgraded Health Care REITs, including Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE: HR), LTC Properties Inc (NYSE: LTC) and Ventas Inc (NYSE: VTR), to Buy from Hold.