MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Bernstein upgraded Patterson-UTI Energy Inc (NASDAQ: PTEN) and Nabors Industries Limited (NYSE: NBR) to Outperform from Market Perform citing valuations and secular growth trends.
• Citigroup upgraded US Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) to Buy from Hold and raised their target to $118 to reflect operating catalysts and their expectations for domestic steel markets to improve in Q4 and 2008.
• Cooper Companies Inc (NYSE: COO) was also upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup despite the lowered guidance as they believe the company's products are improving and earnings upside is possible.
• WestLB upgraded Continental AG (OTC: CTTAY) to Buy from Hold after the tire marker announced plans to reorganize its company structure into six divisions following the purchase of Siemens AG's (NYSE: SI) VDO automotive unit.

• Tempur Pedic International (NYSE: TPX) was upped to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer at CIBC World Markets.
• Friedman Billings upgraded shares of Stone Energy Corporation (NYSE: SGY) to Outperform from Market Perform.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: OXY) to Buy from Hold.
• Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Bernstein.

Analyst upgrades 9-7-07: PTEN, NBR, X, COO and CTTAY originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 07 Sep 2007 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Citigroup cut CV Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: CVTX) to Sell from Hold with a $6 target due to the diminished market potential for Ranexa and its high operating expenses. First Albany downgraded shares to Neutral from Strong Sell to reflect the lack of catalysts.

• Matrix USA cut Stone Energy Corp (NYSE: SGY) to Strong Sell from Hold, believing significant cost increases are driving negative fundamental trends.

• Deutsche Telecom AG (NYSE: DT) was downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform at Bear Stearns as the firm believes evidence of a turnaround needs to be seen before shares move higher.

• Thomas Weisel cut Brady Corporation (NYSE: BRC) to Market Weight from Overweight to reflect lower confidence in management's ability to deploy capital effectively.

• Overseas Shipholding Group Inc (NYSE: OSG) was downgraded to Hold from Strong Buy at Matrix USA.

• American Technology downgraded Sigma Designs, Inc (NASDAQ: SIGM) to Neutral from Buy with a $28 target.

Analyst downgrades 3-28-07: CV Therapeutics, Deutsche Telecom downgraded today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Mar 2007 10:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.