Analyst Upgrades

• Las Vegas Sands (LVS) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Boston Scientific (BSX) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Windstream (WIN) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Expeditors (EXPD) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• A123 Systems (AONE) to neutral from underperform and Chesapeake Midstream (CHKM) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• AvalonBay (AVB) to outperform from neutral and Post Properties (PPS) to neutral from underperform at Cowen.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AONE, AVB, BSX, LVS, MDRX, RRC, SAP, TIVO, WIN ...

Analyst Calls: AONE, AVB, BSX, LVS, MDRX, RRC, SAP, TIVO, WIN ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst Upgrades

• UBS said Martin Marietta's (MLM) Q2 showed evidence of leverage to a recovery and the firm views risk/reward in shares as attractive. Shares were upgraded to buy from neutral, but its price target was lowered to $96 from $101.
• Soleil upgraded Regis (RGS) to buy from hold after the company said it is exploring strategic options. The firm raised its target for shares to $26 from $14.
• Wunderlich upgraded Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) to buy from hold with a $1.50 price target following the company's Q2 results. The firm believes Sirius' product continues to resonate with healthier higher-end consumers and notes that CEO Mel Karmazin said a resolution could be reached with Howard Stern by the Q3 conference call.
• Magellan Midstream (MMP) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Savient (SVNT) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• EMS Tech (ELMG) was upgraded to buy from hold at Needham.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: CTRN, ICE, JACK, MLM, NNN, OPTR, PCG, RGS, RYN, SIRI ...

Analyst Calls: CTRN, ICE, JACK, MLM, NNN, OPTR, PCG, RGS, RYN, SIRI ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Brightpoint (NASDAQ: CELL) to Buy from Hold on expectations global handset units will trough in 2009, leading to a higher multiple for the stock. Citi raised its target on shares to $9 from $6.50.
• FBR Capital upgraded Rosetta Resources (NASDAQ: ROSE) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation and believes drilling results in Q3 and Q4 should serve as near-term catalysts. The firm raised its target on shares to $15.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Echelon (NASDAQ: ELON) to Neutral from Underweight following the company's contract announcement with Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK). The firm raised its target on shares to $10 from $6.
• Smith & Nephew (NYSE: SNN) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Schawk (NYSE: SGK) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Baird.
• Alpha Natural (NYSE: ANR) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AMGN, KR, ROSE, SWY, YUM ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: AMGN, KR, ROSE, SWY, YUM ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Analyst upgrades:

• Morgan Keegan upgraded Motorola (NYSE: MOT) to Outperform from Market Perform due to the increased visibility of Android-based launches, as well as the stock's valuation.
• OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX) was upgraded to Buy from Hold by Citigroup, which cited the company's stabilizing sales trend, accelerating share gains, and valuation.
• Kaufman Bros. upgraded iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT) to Buy from Hold on valuation.
• Cancaccord upgraded Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) to Buy from Hold citing the turnaround in the aluminum business and its exposure to copper.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Smith & Nephew (NYSE: SNN) to Market Perform from Underperform.
• BT Group (NYSE: BT) was upgraded to Neutral from Reduce by Nomura.
• Societe Generale raised L'Oreal (OTC: LRLCY) to Buy from Sell.
• Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN) was upgraded to Buy from Hold by Sandler O'Neill.

Continue reading Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: DIS, CSCO, K, MOT, OMX, RTP ...

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: DIS, CSCO, K, MOT, OMX, RTP ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Paul Foster says that options activity in salon company Regis Corporation (NYSE: RGS) indicates the stock is likely to have non-directional price movements over the short-term, following the company's announcement of a stock and debt offering. That could very well be true, but I think the short-term is overanalyzed, and the long-term story here is much clearer -- and Regis offers two important lessons about how to better-analyze the financing and operations of a company.

I was first introduced to Regis about a year ago, when the stock was part of a portfolio of about 35 positions I inherited responsibility for. As I went through the holdings and segmented them out into categories of attractiveness, Regis was consistently ranked near the bottom. The industry itself was unattractive, and the way the company implemented its strategy seemed to leave it particularly vulnerable to adverse financial markets.

Continue reading Regis equity raise offers lessons, stock still a sell

Regis equity raise offers lessons, stock still a sell originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) closed at $29.87. MT is in advanced discussions with its principle bankers to improve its financial leverage covenant banking facility. MT is expected to report Q2 EPS on July 29. MT August and December option implied volatility of 69 is below its 26-week average of 77, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Regis Corp (NYSE: RGS) closed at $12.23. RGS announced on July 8 a convertible note offering and a common stock offering of 11.5M RGS shares priced at $12.37, with net proceeds of $281M. RGS July option implied volatility is at 62, August and December is at 65; verses its 26-week average of 66, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: Arcelor Mittal volatility low at 69 on banker leverage discussions originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Waste Management (NYSE: WMI) really rocketed on Monday. Its shares closed up nearly 18% to a final price of $30.39. Volume was heavy. No doubt the company's preliminary earnings report helped get things going for the company that makes its money off ridding the world of trash.

For the third quarter, Waste Management is forecasting an increase in its top line of 3.6%. It should book revenues of $3.5 billion. For the bottom line, the company should do at least $0.62 per share, which is two pennies above Wall Street estimates. Even better, this represents a 15% improvement over last year's earning's performance. Not bad, I suppose, but was the 18% gain in the stock price truly reflective of an organic breakout? Keep in mind that the Dow rallied almost 1000 points on Monday. That obviously had a lot to do with the fantastic price appreciation. In addition, Tom Taulli covered how Waste Management dropped its bid for competitor Republic Services (NYSE: RSG). As Tom pointed out, Waste Management probably didn't want to rock the boat as far as its credit rating was concerned. So the traders probably also took this into consideration when placing their bids.

But why would I want to buy the stock now after its stellar one-day performance? I'd much rather take a look at the company after it pulls back. I'm just not convinced that all of the action in the stock was due to strong conviction on the part of investors. I'd have to watch how the price behaves over the next few days before making a decision. All of these bounces that we're going to inevitably see after suffering many days of hellish declines in the major indexes are to be approached with caution if you're looking for quick trading gains. Long-term investors can obviously have a different attitude going into certain stocks. In the case of Waste Management, I will give credit for its attractive yield. But you'll need to perform more due diligence beyond the yield to see if this is one you should look at or not.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

Waste Management: Should you buy the stock? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Baird upgraded Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to Outperform from Neutral citing valuation and long-term earnings power.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded shares of Nationwide Financial (NYSE: NFS) to Outperform from Market Perform as it believes the deal is not at risk and will close at the agreed upon $52.25 price.
  
• Friedman Billings upgraded American Eagle (NYSE: AEO) to Outperform from Market Perform citing valuation.
• Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Natixis.
• W.W. Grainger (NYSE: GWW) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at RW Baird.
• Fidelity National (NYSE: FIS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at SunTrust.

• Credit Suisse downgraded Eli Lilly NYSE:(LLY) to Neutral from Outperform citing the increased risk profile from the ImClone (IMCL) deal.
• Soleil downgraded Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) to Hold from Buy as it believes Google's cost management may lag revenue weakness and that the falling stock price implies employee defections. The firm lowered its target to $350 from $580.
• Piper downgraded shares of Orbitz (NYSE:OWW) to Sell from Neutral to reflect deteriorating travel industry fundamentals and the company's levered balance sheet.
  
• US Steel (NYSE:X) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman.
• Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at ING Group.
• Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Soleil.
• Cemex (NYSE:CX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
  

• Bidz.com (NASDAQ:BIDZ), American Superconductor (NASDAQ:AMSC) and Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSH) were today's noteworthy initiations:
  
• Bidz.com (NASDAQ:BIDZ) was initiated with a Hold at Stamford, as the firm does not want to recommend a company that has never been tested during difficult economic times, but is positive on BIDZ's growth potential.
• American Superconductor (NASDAQ:AMSC) was initiated with a Hold at Stanford, as the firm believes the Euro decline and global market turmoil are near-term risks.
• Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSH) was initiated with an Underperform at RBC Capital, as the firm views shares as overvalued.
• Regis Corp (NYSE:RGS) was initiated with a Neutral at RW Baird.
• CommVault's (NASDAQ:CVLT) coverage was resumed with a Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BAC, AEO, GOOG, X, BIDZ ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Waste Management's latest Republic bid is too good to pass up originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.