Analyst Upgrades

• Google (GOOG) to outperform from neutral at Wedbush.
• Nike (NKE) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Apollo Group (APOL) to market perform from underperform at FBR Capital.
• JDSU (JDSU) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• NetApp (NTAP) to overweight from equal weight and Verigy (VRGY) to equal weight from underweight at Barclays.
• RSC Holdings (RRR) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Exelon (EXC) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Aon (AON) and Willis Group (WSH) to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• BMC Software (BMC) to outperform from neutral at Cowen.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AON, APOL, EXC, GOOG, NKE, NTAP, RIMM, UA, VRGY ...

Analyst Calls: AON, APOL, EXC, GOOG, NKE, NTAP, RIMM, UA, VRGY ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 13 Dec 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Credit Suisse upgraded AT&T (T) to outperform from neutral and has a $35 target on the stock. Credit Suisse believes the impact from AT&T's loss of iPhone exclusivity will be less than expected and that the stock should benefit from its earnings growth and dividend yield.
• Goldman upgraded Freeport McMoRan (FCX) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $94 from $79 based on improving copper fundamentals.
• Benchmark Co. upgraded Valueclick (VCLK) to vuy from hold on expectations Google Instant (GOOG) could drive marketing traffic. The firm raised its target price for Valueclick shares to $15 from $11.
• Best Buy (BBY) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Research In Motion (RIMM) was upgraded to buy from sell at Societe Generale.
• CarMax (KMX) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BBY, FCX, KMX, NUE, PRGS, RIMM, T, USG, VCLK, X ...

Analyst Calls: BBY, FCX, KMX, NUE, PRGS, RIMM, T, USG, VCLK, X ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded Consolidated Edison (NYSE: ED) to Buy from Hold on expectations the company will be able to reach a settlement with the New York PSC Staff that will provide benefits to both ratepayers and shareholders. The firm raised its target on shares to $46 from $40.50.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) to Market Perform from Underperform to reflect the company's balance sheet, industry leading position, and potential for accretive acquisitions. The firm raised its target on shares to $75 from $57.
• JPMorgan upgraded Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect valuation and industry data points that suggest a pick-up in discretionary spending. The firm has a $30 target on the stock.
• Alcoa (NYSE: AA) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• East West Bancorp (NASDAQ: EWBC) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• Bronco Drilling (NYSE: BDC) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AA, BIG, ED, FDX, MGM, MSFT, SKS ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AA, BIG, ED, FDX, MGM, MSFT, SKS ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Cemex (NYSE: CX) to Buy from Hold on decreased dilution risk following the company's successful refinancing and raised its target on shares to $15 from $11.20.
• Rochdale upgraded Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $65. The firm is positive on Wal-Mart's defensive characteristics, cyclical upside, and competitive position.
• JPMorgan upgraded Gartner Group (NYSE: IT) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect stabilization in IT industry spending and the stock's attractive valuation. The firm has a $23 price target on the stock.
• Cavium Networks (NASDAQ: CAVM) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
• Borg-Warner (NYSE: BWA) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Nanometrics (NASDAQ: NANO) was upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BJ, CX, MRK, VLKAY, WMT ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BJ, CX, MRK, VLKAY, WMT ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Bidz.com Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDZ) Q4 earnings release included notice about an SEC investigation.
• Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) saw net income drop by almost 50%, falling short of estimates.
• Ducommun Inc. (NYSE: DCO) received an analyst's downgrade after its Q4 earnings release.
• Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) said Q4 earnings fell due to weakness at Gap and Old Navy stores.
• General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) worse-than-expected results prompted speculation about its survival.

Continue reading Earnings highlights: Dell, GM, Lowe's, Heinz, Smucker, Washington Post and more

Earnings highlights: Dell, GM, Lowe's, Heinz, Smucker, Washington Post and more originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 28 Feb 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Public Storage (PSA) soars as Q4 earnings beat estimates

Public Storage (PSA) soars as Q4 earnings beat estimates originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Public Storage (PSA): A good play on moving, adjustment to less space

Public Storage (PSA): A good play on moving, adjustment to less space originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Baird upgraded Regal-Beloit (NYSE: RBC) to Outperform from Neutral based on valuation and growth expectations.
• Black & Decker (NYSE: BDK) and Lennar (NYSE: LEN) were upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS based on valuation.
• Kroger (NYSE: KR) and Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) were added to Goldman's Conviction Buy List.
• CIBC upgraded Biovail (NYSE: BVF) to Sector Performer from Sector Underperformer.
• Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Cowen.

• Merrill downgraded Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) to Neutral from Buy and expects marketing and promotional spending to limit earnings growth in 2009 and 2010. The firm lowered their target to $35 from $42.
• Mechel Steel (NYSE: MTL) was cut to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley to reflect declining coal demand.
  
• Friedman Billings downgraded shares of Legg Mason (NYSE: LM) to Underperform from Market Perform on liquidity concerns given the Legg Mason's leveraged balance sheet and falling EBITDA. The firm lowered their target to $7 from $11.

Continue reading Analyst calls: RBC, BDK, KR, LEN, KR, CPB, MTL, LM, PIR, AAPL, AVP ...

Analyst calls: RBC, BDK, KR, LEN, KR, CPB, MTL, LM, PIR, AAPL, AVP ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our Ads Gone Bad series. Share your thoughts and memories of this ad in the comments, and be sure to check out our other posts on marketing gone wrong.

I have watched this controversial advertisement for the Public Storage Co. over and over and I take no offense. Spike has portrayed it as the most anti-Semitic "worst ever" commercial, but I do not see it that way. Given my father is a survivor of the Holocaust (Warsaw Ghetto and all) and I have grown up with many accounts of murderous atrocities and learned of, and experienced, many more anti-Semitic accounts, I think Spike is way off base with this one.

Continue reading Ads Gone Bad: Public Storage anti-semitic -- 'the worst ever'

Ads Gone Bad: Public Storage anti-semitic -- 'the worst ever' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Self-storage sector not glamorous, just profitable originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• DJIA 12,745.88 -120.90 -0.94%
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Continue reading Closing Bell: $126 Oil trumps deficit... week ends down

Closing Bell: $126 Oil trumps deficit... week ends down originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 09 May 2008 16:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Lehman upgraded Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) to Equal Weight from Underweight on valuation.
  
• Friedman Billings raised Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) to Outperform from Market Perform, citing expectations for improved margins next quarter, and valuation.
  
• Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral by Credit Suisse, which cited valuation.
  
• Lehman upgraded shares of Societe Generale (OTC: SCGLY) to Overweight from Underweight to reflect a potential takeover by BNP Paribas and limited downside.

• Bayer (OTC: BAYRY) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight by Lehman.
• Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) was upgraded to Hold from Sell by Citigroup.
• Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) was raised to Buy from Hold by Deutsche Bank.
• UBS raised Entergy (NYSE: ETR) to Buy from Neutral.

Analyst upgrades: PFE, DELL DGX and SCGLY originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of Sierra Pacific (NYSE: SRP) to Hold from Buy on valuation and uncertainty over the company's Integrated Resource Plan investment program.
  
• Jefferies downgraded shares of Intersil (NASDAQ: ISIL) to Hold from Buy and lowered their target to $30 from $38 after their Asia channel checks indicated the first wave of cancellations for PWM ICs from the leading Taiwan Motherboard manufacturers.
  
• Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) were lowered to Neutral from Buy at UBS, citing credit pressures that will likely require increased reserves.

• First Marblehead (NYSE: FMD) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings.
  
• The firm also downgraded Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ: CASY) to Market Perform from Outperform.
  
• Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) was lowered to Market Perform from Outperform at Wachovia.

Analyst downgrades: SRP, ISIL, FNM and FRE originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 26 Nov 2007 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Most mergers are driven by the notion, sometimes wildly mistaken, that the combination will bring both a competitive advantage. Some pairs of companies, however, seem so intuitively right for one another, no bottom-line considerations should be allowed to interfere with their matrimony. Like a slot machine and a blue hair with a pocket full of quarters, these two were meant for one another.

George Carlin has a famous rap (NSFW) about Americans and our love of stuff, which drives our need to build more places to put our stuff. That's always struck me as an integrated business plan. Two seemingly perfect partners for such a business are Dollar General (NYSE: DG) and Public Storage (NYSE: PSA).

Dollar General is a leader in recreational shopping for the denominationally challenged. If you have a hankering for neon-colored plastic, something covered in polyester fur, food with the half-life of uranium-235 or clothing with the style of Piltdown Man, DG is your go-to source.There you'll find shelf after shelf of non-essentials, the kind that end up in storage sheds. Currently, the 8,260-store company is in the process of merging with Buck Holdings LP.

If this deal falters, though, how about a merger with Public Storage? PSA (I'm a little uneasy with a company whose stock ticker is the name of a prostate cancer screening test, by the way) is a REIT with direct and indirect interest in over 2,000 self-storage developments in the U.S., containing, I'm sure, a great deal of material from Dollar General. The merger would be an excellent opportunity to double-down on America's seemingly inexhaustible need for more stuff.

Mergers I'd like to see -- Dollar General (DG) and Public Storage (PSA) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 27 Oct 2007 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Deutsche Bank downgraded REITs AvalonBay (NYSE: AVB), Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP), Health Care REIT (NYSE: HCN), Kimco (NYSE: KIM) and Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) to Hold from Buy on valuation following the recent share appreciation.
  
• Business Objects (NASDAQ: BOBJ) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Baird following its acquisition by SAP AG (NYSE: SAP).
  
• Wachovia downgraded Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) to Market Perform from Outperform and P&C Insurance (NYSE: PGR) citing deteriorating fundamentals in personal lines.

• UBS downgraded BEA Systems (NASDAQ: BEAS) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• JP Morgan downgraded Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) to Neutral from Outperform.
  
• Sealy Corporation (NYSE: ZZ) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Banc of America.
  
• Friedman Billings downgraded technology stocks, lowering ASE Test Limited (NASDAQ: ASTSF), ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML), KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) and Rudolph Technologies (NASDAQ: RTEC) to Market Perform from Outperform.

Analyst downgrades: REITs, BOBJ, ALL and PGR originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 08 Oct 2007 11:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Public Storage (PSA): A safe place for your money? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 13 Aug 2007 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.