Analyst Upgrades

• Marriott (MAR) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Quest Diagnostics (DGX) and Owens-Illinois (OI) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• FirstMerit (FMER) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Safeway (SWY) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Babcock & Wilcox (BWC) to buy from neutral, as well as Jacobs Engineering (JEC) and W. R. Berkley (WRB) to neutral from sell, at Goldman.
• Pioneer Natural (PXD) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Teekay Tankers (TNK) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BP, DGX, DNDN, MAR, PM, PXD, SWY, TNK, TRV ...

Analyst Calls: BP, DGX, DNDN, MAR, PM, PXD, SWY, TNK, TRV ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• Home Depot (HD) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Delta Air Lines (DAL) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Heico (HEI) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• MB Financial (MBFI) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Quest Diagnostics (DGX) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Oshkosh (OSK) to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
• Volterra (VLTR) and Silicon Laboratories (SLAB) to buy from neutral at Roth Capital.
• Ascena Retail Group (ASNA) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Cytec Industries (CYT) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: DAL, CIEN, DGX, HD, IMAX, LOW, OSK, PENN, RDS.A, SWK ...

Analyst Calls: DAL, CIEN, DGX, HD, IMAX, LOW, OSK, PENN, RDS.A, SWK ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 31 Jan 2011 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Medical Diagnostics: Five Health Care Reform Beneficiaries

Medical Diagnostics: Five Health Care Reform Beneficiaries originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Quest Diagnostics: Success Through Tests

Quest Diagnostics: Success Through Tests originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Quest Diagnostics: Back Up the Truck

Quest Diagnostics: Back Up the Truck originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The nation is on the cusp of historic and civilization-advancing change with the upcoming health care reform bill, and that change bodes well for Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX), which is why I'm reiterating my Buy rating for the company, first recommended on June 25, 2009, at a price of $55.89.

Quest's positive story remains the same: diagnostic tests are at the core of health care services, and even though the number of tests per citizen will likely decline in the years ahead, when one adds 30-45 million more citizens regularly accessing health care services annually, within 10 years, the probability of increased business is high, to say the least.

Continue reading Quest Diagnostics: Pull-back is Buy opportunity

Quest Diagnostics: Pull-back is Buy opportunity originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The earnings crunch begins in earnest this week, and analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting a parade of companies reporting profit declines in the just completed quarter. That includes more financials, such as American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP), Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK), M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB), Northern Trust Corp. (NASDAQ: NTRS), State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT), US Bancorp (NYSE: USB), and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC). On the other hand, Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC), Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF), and Zions Bancorp. (NASDAQ: ZION) are expected to post losses.

This week's anticipated earnings decliners also include tech companies such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Lexmark International Inc. (NYSE: LXK), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN), and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO). Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) is expected to post a loss.

Continue reading The week in preview: Earnings crunch expected to reveal lots of lower profits

The week in preview: Earnings crunch expected to reveal lots of lower profits originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Quest Diagnostics is well-positioned in a preferred sector

Quest Diagnostics is well-positioned in a preferred sector originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Merriman upgraded Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN) to Buy from Neutral on expectations shares will react positively to the full IMPACT data release on April 28. The firm thinks Provenge could represent the first cancer immunotherapy approved in the U.S. and raised its valuation range on the stock to $33-$34 from $18-$19.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Andersons (NASDAQ: ANDE) as it believes the valuation is attractive, investor expectations are low, and the company's fertilizer and rail segments could recovery in FY10. The firm has a $19 target on shares. Goldman upgraded the auto sector to Neutral from Cautious and added Ford (NYSE: F) to its Conviction Buy list. The analyst does not believe Ford will have to declare bankruptcy and sees the company benefiting from Chrysler share declines and GM's (NYSE: GM) reduced product offerings. Ford's price target is $6
• Banc of America/Merrill upgraded U.S. Airways (NYSE: LCC) to Buy from Underperform.
• Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: DNDN, ANDE, the auto sector, DGX, MTB, ADVS, ITG, MF and PCLN

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: DNDN, ANDE, the auto sector, DGX, MTB, ADVS, ITG, MF and PCLN originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Suntrust initiated AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) with a Buy rating and $32 target and expects AVAV's market leadership in unmanned aerial systems and increased effort in the high altitude to drive strong organic growth.
• Jefferies believes American Oriental (NYSE: AOB) is capable of making sizable acquisitions given its strong cash position and finds the valuation attractive at current levels. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $20 target.
• Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $30 target at Baird on valuation.

• Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX) was initiated with a Market Perform rating at Wachovia.
• Goldman started Quest Diagnostics (NASDAQ: DGX) with a Sell rating and $55 target, LabCorp (NASDAQ: LH) with a Neutral rating and $77 target and Pinnacle Entertainment (NASDAQ: PNK) with a Buy rating and $35 target.

Analyst initiations: AVAV, AOB and INTC originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 Nov 2007 09:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Diagnostic medical tests guide physicians through the process of diagnosing diseases and measuring the progress of recovery. The leading U. S. provider of diagnostic testing services is a Lyndhurst, New Jersey outfit that performs personal health testing on more than 150 million patients a year. It was the first laboratory in the country to achieve ISO 9001 certification.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) provides diagnostic testing services to the healthcare industry. Offerings include routine blood tests, pap tests, urinalyses, pregnancy tests, asthma and allergy tests, gene-based tests and tests for drugs of abuse. It also provides anatomic pathology services, testing for clinical trials, and risk assessment services for the life insurance industry. Through its Nichols Institute Diagnostics subsidiary, the firm manufactures and markets diagnostic test kits and systems to hospitals, clinical laboratories and dialysis centers. Quest operates more than 2,000 sample collection centers, 30 primary labs and 150 rapid response labs throughout the US and in Mexico and the UK. The firm has testing contracts with such health insurers as Aetna (NYSE: AET) and Cigna (NYSE: CI).

The company surprised the Street earlier in the week, when it reported Q2 EPS of 73 cents and revenues of $1.64 billion. Analysts had been looking for 68 cents and $1.61 billion. Management also guided FY07 EPS to $2.80-2.95 ($2.80 consensus) and FY07 revenues to $6.6-6.7 billion ($6.61B consensus).

Continue reading Quest Diagnostics: Contributing to better healthcare decisions

Quest Diagnostics: Contributing to better healthcare decisions originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• XM SATELLITE RADIO HOLDINGS INC (NASDAQ: XMSR)

Word is that there's more than one bid out for the satellite radio company. We know about the merger agreement with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc's (NASDAQ: SIRI), so who's the other party? Or, is there another party? Some are convinced it's just talk. No names are even floating around. But for XM to walk away from Sirius would cost them a $175M break-up fee. They'd have to really be serious about another offer to do that.


• BUILDING MATERIALS HOLDING CORPORATION (NYSE: BLG)

In May, Robert L .Chapman of Chapman Capital, the "activist investor", said Building Materials Holding Corp. should consider selling all or parts of itself. Then he upped his stake to 8.1% in the residential construction services provider. Now comes word that the company may have hired, or be in the process of hiring, a strategic advisor.

Continue reading This week's rumor round-up: More bids for XM Satellite Radio?

This week's rumor round-up: More bids for XM Satellite Radio? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Jul 2007 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Bernstein upgraded the semiconductor sector to Overweight form Market Weight on expectations that utilization will rise starting in Q2. The firm upgraded ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ: ASML) to Outperform from Market Perform and Infineon Technologies (NYSE: IFX) to Market Perform from Underperform.
• UBS upgraded Quest Diagnostics to Buy from Neutral, citing Laboratory Corporation Of America Holdings' (NYSE: LH) contract renewal with Cigna HealthCare, which should ease concerns regarding deteriorating pricing.
• Fannie Mae was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings, citing improving fundamentals, better business mix and the possibility the company reports current financials in the next 12-18 months.

• Mediacom Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: MCCC) was upgraded to Neutral at Pali Capital, as the firm does not see a major catalyst to drive down shares.
• Soleil upgraded shares of ICU Medical Inc (NASDAQ: ICUI) to Buy from Hold.
• DynCorp International Inc (NYSE: DCP) was upgraded to Outperformer from Sector Performer at CIBC World Markets.
• CIBC also upgraded shares of Radware Limited (NASDAQ: RDWR) to Outperformer from Sector Performer.

Analyst upgrades 6-07-07: Semiconductor sector, DGX and FNM originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cramer on a Quest and doing a Jones originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Jan 2007 19:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Bank of America upgraded The Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) to Buy from Sell with a $29 target. Due to streamlined distribution and reduced SG&A expenses having closed the productivity gap with Wal-Mart Corp (NYSE: WMT), the firm believes Kroger is well positioned to accelerate growth and modestly increase operating margins.

• JP Morgan upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics Inc (NYSE: DGX) to Overweight from Neutral as they not only believe the company's results will outperform expectations over the next few quarters, but that management will become more aggressive in the acquisitions market.

• Sterne Agee upgraded Coast Financial Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: CFHI) to Hold from Sell, with an $8.50 target.

• Goldman Sachs upgraded shares of Nova Chemical Corp (NYSE: NCX) to Neutral from Sell, with a $12 target, citing the potential sale of Nova's styrene business.

• Citing the possibility of a merger with Abitibi-Consolidated Inc (NYSE: ABY), Bowater Inc (NYSE: BOW) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Bank of America and to Buy from Hold at Soliel Securities.

Analyst upgrades 1-29-07: Kroger gets a Buy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Jan 2007 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.