Analyst Upgrades

• Oracle (ORCL) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Accenture (ACN) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Advanced Energy (AEIS) and Applied Materials (AMAT) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Spreadtrum (SPRD) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Healthcare Realty Trust (HR) and Tortoise Energy Capital (TYY) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Global Payments (GPN) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• CBS (CBS) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Sonic (SONC) to outperform from neutral at Cowen.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: ACN, AMAT, AZN, BBT, CBS, GPN, IP, ORCL, PKG, SONC, V ...

Analyst Calls: ACN, AMAT, AZN, BBT, CBS, GPN, IP, ORCL, PKG, SONC, V ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: SRS Labs, Tennant and Entergy were today's noteworthy initiations:

• B. Riley initiated SRS Labs (NASDAQ: SRSL) with a Neutral rating and $7 target. The firm believes expectations for Q2 and FY08 may be high as the company ramps marketing spend in the face of difficult macro economic conditions.
  
• Jefferies assumed Tennant (NYSE: TNC) with a Hold rating and $32 target which reflects their macro economic outlook for end markets in North America and Western Europe.
  
• Wachovia is positive on Entergy's (NYSE: ETR) shareholder-friendly management, strong financial position, and leverage to favorable wholesale power market trends. Shares were initiated with an Outperform rating.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• ThinkPanmure initiated Knot Inc. (NASDAQ: KNOT) with a Source of Funds rating and $8 target.
  
• Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) was started with a Buy rating and $61 target at Citigroup.
  
• HSBC assumed Spreadtrum (NASDAQ: SPRD) with an Overweight rating.

Analyst initiations: SRS Labs, Tennant, Entergy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Roth Capital downgraded Spreadtrum (NASDAQ: SPRD) to Hold from Buy and said recent checks at several Chinese handset companies indicate shipments have been weak since mid April due to sluggish demand and weak macro conditions. The firm does not expect SPRD to meet its Q2 revenue guidance and has lowered estimates and its rating.
  
• Jefferies downgraded shares of Amylin Pharma (NASDAQ: AMLN) to Hold from Buy as they believe Novo Nordisk's (NYSE: NVO) Liraglutide could prove to be greater-than-expected competition for AMLN's Byetta.
  
• Network Equipment (NYSE: NWK) was cut at ThinkPanmure to Source of Funds from Buy following the company's reduced guidance based on reduced government spending.

• Lehman downgraded European Stocks to Underweight from Overweight.
  
• Murphy Oil (NYSE: MUR) was cut at JP Morgan to Underweight from Neutral.
  
• Goldman downgraded Frontier Oil (NYSE: FTO) and Lumber Liquidators (NYSE: LL) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Tekelec (NASDAQ: TKLC) was lowered to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Analyst downgrades: SPRD, AMLN and NWK originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• GSC Acquistion (GGA), a 15M-share IPO for this business financing company. Ladenburg, Thalman & Co. and I-Bankers Securities are the lead managers. Filing price: $10.00.
• Spectra Energy Partners LP (SEP), a 10M-share IPO for this natural gas MLP. Citigroup and Lehman Brothers are the lead managers. Filing range: $19.00-$21.00.

Continue reading IPO & secondary preview -- Week of June 25, 2007

IPO & secondary preview -- Week of June 25, 2007 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 25 Jun 2007 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.