MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Banc of America upgraded PetSmart (NASDAQ:PETM) to Buy from Neutral on valuation, as they believe the market is overly negative on the company's cyclicality.
  
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded shares of Marsh & McLennan (NYSE:MMC) to Outperform from Market Perform on increased confidence management will be able to improve margins.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded Pinnacle Airlines (NASDAQ:PNCL) to Overweight from Underweight citing the company's FCF and contract certainty.

• Hasbro (NYSE:HAS) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Needham.
  
• Calyon raised Airtran Holdings (AAI) to Add from Neutral.
  
• Liberty Entertainment (LMDIA) was raised at Merrill to Buy from Neutral.

Analyst upgrades: PETM, MMC and PNCL originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• William Blair assumed coverage of Apollo Group Inc (NASDAQ: APOL) and Strayer Education Inc (NASDAQ: STRA) with Outperform ratings and Career Education Corporation (NASDAQ: CECO) with a Market Perform rating. The broker also assumed coverage and downgraded DeVry Inc (NYSE: DV) to Market Perform from Outperform.
  
• Goldman Sachs initiated coverage on Copa Holdings (NYSE: CPA) with a Buy rating and $88 target, GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (NYSE: GOL) and TAM SA (NYSE: TAM) with Neutral ratings and Lan Airlines SA (NYSE: LFL) with a Sell rating and $93 target; Lan Airlines was also initiated at Morgan Stanley with an Overweight rating and $105 target.
  
• Asta Funding was initiated at Kaufman Brothers with a Buy rating and $55 target. The firm believes the company should grow earnings at a midpoint of 20% over time, with near-term growth at 15% and longer-term growth at 20%-25%.
  
• Citigroup initiated shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill with a Buy rating and $100 target, as the firm expects the company will see unit growth at a rate in the high-teens while experiencing above-average SSS and some margin expansion.

• BMO Capital initiated shares of CDC Corp (NASDAQ: CHINA) with a Market Perform rating and $11 target.
  
• Jazz Technologies Inc (NYSE: JAZ) was initiated with a Buy rating and $5 target at Wedbush Morgan Securities.
  
• Calyon Securities initiated shares of Pinnacle Entertainment Inc (NYSE: PNK) with an Add rating and $32 target.
• Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ: LMNX) was initiated with a Buy rating at Pacific Growth Equities.

Analyst initiations 6-29-07: ASFI and CMG originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Wachovia is positive on Time Warner Cable's (NYSE: TWC) competitive position, growth opportunities and valuation, starting shares off with an Outperform rating...

• Solera (NYSE: SLH) was initiated at Deutsche Bank and Citigroup with a Hold rating; Goldman started Solera with a Buy rating and JP Morgan initiated shares with an Overweight rating...

• BioDel (NASDAQ: BIOD) was initiated at Banc of America with a Buy rating, as the company's proprietary technology Viadel enables faster uptake of insulin that more closely mimic's the body's natural first phase insulin response. Leerink started shares with an Outperform and Morgan Stanley initiated shares with an Overweight rating...

• UBS started Under Armour (NYSE: UA) with a Buy rating.

• Pinnacle Gas Resources (NASDAQ: PINN) was initiated with a Sector Perform rating at RBC Capital.

• FTI Consulting (NYSE: FCN) was initiated with a Buy rating at Stifel.

• UBS initiated Tyco International (NYSE: TYC) with a Buy rating.

• A.S.V. Inc (NASDAQ: ASVI) was initiated with a Buy rating at Oppenheimer.

Analyst initiations 6-20-07: ASVI, TWC, TYC and UA originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 20 Jun 2007 11:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• UBS downgraded First Data Corp (NYSE: FDC) to Neutral from Buy following the acquisition by KKR.

• Pinnacle Entertainment (NYSE: PNK) was cut to Hold from Buy at Matrix USA, as the firm believes post-hurricane reconstruction efforts are leading to significant capital expenditures, which limits upside.

• Cephalon Inc (NASDAQ: CEPH) was removed from American Technology's Focus List with shares up 15% in three weeks as the approval of Nuvigil without a Black Box warning has passed.

• JP Morgan cut shares of Verint Systems (NASDAQ: VRNT) to Underweight from Neutral, citing risks and costs associated from the Witness Systems' (WITS) acquisition.

• Labor Ready, Inc (NYSE: LRW) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman based on the slowdown in U.S. residential construction activity.

• Citigroup downgraded International Paper Co (NYSE: IP) to Hold from Buy with a $39 target.

• Bernstein cut MedImmune, Inc (NASDAQ: MEDI) to Market Perform from Outperform.

• Sanders Morris downgraded Dreamworks Animation SKG, Inc (NYSE: DWA) to Neutral from Buy on valuation.

• JP Morgan downgraded Icagen, Inc (NASDAQ: ICGN) to Neutral from Overweight.

• Friedman Billings cut CompuDyne Corp (NASDAQ: CDCY) to Market Perform from Outperform following Q4 results.

• Roth Capital cut LivePerson, Inc (NASDAQ: LPSN) to Sell from Hold.

Analyst downgrades 4-04-07: Cephalon, First Data & Dreamworks Animation downgraded today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 04 Apr 2007 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Prudential initiated the Gaming sector with a Favorable rating,
  
• They initiated Boyd Gaming Corp (NYSE: BYD), Town Sports International Holdings (NASDAQ: CLUB), Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ: PENN), Shuffle Master Inc (NASDAQ: SHFL), Steiner Leisure Ltd (NASDAQ: STNR) and Great Wolf Resorts Inc (NASDAQ: WOLF) with Outperform ratings.
  
• Ameristar Casinos Inc (NASDAQ: ASCA), MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) and WMS Industries Inc (NYSE: WMS) were initiated with Neutral ratings.
• Underweight ratings were given to International Game Tech (NYSE: IGT), Isle of Capri Casinos Inc (NASDAQ: ISLE), Life Time Fitness Inc (NYSE: LTM), Pinnacle Entertainment Inc (NYSE: PNK) and Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc (NASDAQ: TRMP).

• UBS initiated CBS Corp (NYSE: CBS) with a Buy rating and $38 target, citing valuation, dividends and buybacks.

• Nollenberger believes International Rectifier Corp (NYSE: IRF) is the way to play the trend for energy efficiency, initiating the company with a Buy rating and $60 target.

• Goldman Sachs resumed coverage of AT&T Inc (NYSE: T) with a Buy rating and Level 3 Communications inc (NASDAQ: LVLT) with a Neutral rating.

• Stanford started EDO Corp (NYSE: EDO) with a Hold rating and $25 target; the firm believes EDO can be a turnaround story in 2007, but they recommend investors to stay on the sidelines until after Q4 earnings given their concerns over the quarter and guidance.

Analyst initiations 1-26-07: Prudential is Favorable on gaming originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Jan 2007 11:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.