Analyst Upgrades

• Cisco (CSCO) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Cognizant (CTSH) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Polypore (PPO) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Elan (ELN) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Millicom (MICC) and NuStar GP Holdings (NSH) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Teekay LNG (TGP) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• American Railcar (ARII) to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.
• Texas Instruments (TXN) to buy from neutral at Sterne Agee.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: NYSE Group Inc (NYX), Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN) and HomeBanc Corp (HMB) were today's more notable downgrades:

• JP Morgan downgraded shares of the NYSE Group Inc (NYSE: NYX) to Underweight from Neural to reflect their belief that the company's float will increase significantly in March due to the acquisition of Euronext and the lockup expiration. JP Morgan believes this could bring selling pressure.
  

• Credit Suisse downgraded shares of Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ: PTEN) citing negative earnings impact from share losses and industry capacity additions.

• Shares of HomeBanc Corp (NYSE: HMB) were downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform with a $2.60 target at Friedman Billings based on continued losses and an unlikely sale given market conditions.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Wachovia downgraded Hub International Ltd (NYSE: HBG) to Market Perform from Outperform following news of a private-equity acquisition for $40 a share.

• UBS downgraded Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (NASDAQ: BBBY) to Neutral from Buy on valuation.

• Citigroup downgraded Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp (NYSE: BNI) to Hold from Buy.

• AG Edwards cut Teekay LNG Partners (NYSE: TGP) and Teekay Offshore Partners (NYSE: TOO) to Hold from Buy citing valuation.

• Raymond James downgraded shares of Marvel Entertainment Inc (NYSE: MVL) to Market Perform from Outperform.

• Lazard downgraded Thoratec Corp (NASDAQ: THOR) to Sell from Hold with a $15 target. They recommend selling shares ahead of a likely FDA decision to call an advisory panel for HeartMate II.

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