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Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: VZ, CHS, DLTR, RGC ...

Analyst upgrades:

Jefferies upgraded Ansys (NASDAQ: ANSS) shares to Buy from Hold following the company's reduced guidance as it now believes estimates are much more achievable. Despite the upgrade, the firm lowered its target price to $25 from $29.
Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of Signet Jewelers (NYSE: SIG) to Buy from Hold on expectations the company will benefit from a capacity reduction in U.S. jewelry retailing.
Thomas Weisel upgraded Omnicare (NYSE: OCR) to Overweight from Market Weight citing improving fundamentals and misunderstandings regarding Obama's healthcare proposal.
Verizon (VZ) was lifted to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital.
The Inventure Group (NYSE: SNAK) was raised to Buy from Hold at Roth Capital.
Chico's FAS (NYSE: CHS) was upgraded at Friedman Billings to Outperform from Market Perform.

Analyst downgrades:

Stephens downgraded Wilbros Group (NYSE: WG) to Equal Weight from Overweight to reflect a lack of visibility into earnings and deterioration in the company's end markets. The firm lowered its target price to $9.
Jefferies downgraded Limelight Networks (NASDAQ: LLNW) to Hold from Buy as it believes the company can not sustain profits or cash flow this year given its capex requirements. The firm lowered its target price to $3 from $4.
Barclays cut SLM Corp (NYSE: SLM) to Equal Weight from Overweight following President Obama's proposal to eliminate Federal Family Education Loan Program.
Synta Pharma (NASDAQ: SNTA) was lowered to Hold from Buy at Roth Capital and to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital.
U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM) was downgraded at Baird to Underperform from Neutral.
Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman.

Analyst initiations:

ThinkEquity expects Emulex (NYSE: ELX) to generate positive FCF in 2010 and views valuation as attractive. Shares were initiated with a Buy rating and $7 target.
Lazard Capital initiated Constant Contact (NASDAQ: CTCT) with a Buy rating and $19 target. The firm believes the company is well positioned in the Software as a Service category of E-mail Marketing.
Morgan Stanley assumed Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR) with an Overweight rating and $45 target and Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO) with an Equal Weight rating.
Regal Entertainment (NYSE: RGC) was started at Barclays with an Overweight rating and $14 target.

Analyst upgrades:

Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Premiere Global (NYSE: PGI) to Outperform from Perform on valuation and believes the company's strategic initiatives will drive "healthy" top-line results in a difficult economy.
Citigroup upgraded Prudential (NYSE: PRU) to Buy from Hold on valuation, as they believe the stock is oversold at current levels. Though upgraded, the firm lowered their target price to $30 from $80.
Citigroup also upgraded Bankrate (NASDAQ: RATE) to Buy from Hold as they believe the company will benefit from the financial market volatility and that the risk/reward is attractive at current levels. The firm maintains a $40 target on the stock.
Hospitality Properties (NYSE: HPT) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital.
Diamond Offshore (NYSE: DO) was upgraded at Merrill Lynch to Buy from Neutral.
Alcon (NYSE: ACL) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.

Analyst downgrades:

MOST NOTEWORTHY: CVS Corp (CVS), Express Scripts, Inc (ESRX) and Goodrich Petroleum Corp (GDP) were some of today's more notable initiations:

CVS Corp (NYSE: CVS) was reinstated at Credit Suisse with an Outperform and at JP Morgan with Neutral ratings.

Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX) was reinstated at Credit Suisse with an Outperform rating, up from its Neutral rating, and resumed at Bank of America with a Buy rating. JP Morgan reinstated Express Scripts share with an Overweight rating.

Goodrich Petroleum (NYSE: GDP) was initiated with an Overweight rating at JP Morgan.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

Jefferies initiated Cellcom Israel Ltd (NYSE: CEL) with a Buy rating and $21 target.

CIBC initiated 3SBio Inc (NASDAQ: SSRX) with a Sector Outperformer rating and $17 target; the firm said 3SBio Inc offers the broadest range of BioGenerics in the Chinese market and views the company as an execution story and country play.

Cowen started G-III Apparel Group, Ltd (NASDAQ: GIII) with an Outperform rating based on expectations of market share growth to be driven by new brands and products.

BMO Capital Markets expects Riverbed Technology, Inc (NASDAQ: RVBD) with a Market Perform rating.

Lazard started Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp (NASDAQ: SNTA) with a Buy rating; Bear Stearns initiated shares of Synta with an Outperform rating.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

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