Analyst Upgrades

• Ryder (R) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• HCP (HCP) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Hertz Global (HTZ) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Lincoln National (LNC) to buy from neutral and T. Rowe Price (TROW) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Protective Life (PL) and Janus Capital (JNS) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Newell Rubbermaid (NWL) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• National Instruments (NATI) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Team Health (TMH) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

Analyst Upgrades

• Intel (INTC) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight and Autodesk (ADSK) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Citigroup upgraded Blackrock (BLK) to buy from hold.
• 99c Only Stores (NDN) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• PetSmart (PETM) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Ruth's Hospitality (RUTH) and Morton's Restaurant (MRT) to overweight from neutral.
• BioMed Realty (BMR) was upgraded to market perform from underperform at FBR Capital.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Piedmont (PDM) to market perform from underperform.

Analyst Upgrades

• Wells Fargo upgraded its sector rating on large-cap U.S. banks to market weight from underweight to reflect improving economic data, valuations in the space and reduced concerns of regulatory changes.
• Soleil upgraded Disney (DIS) to buy from hold, citing better ESPN affiliate fee and cruise ship expectations. The firm upped its target price for shares to $42 from $30.
• Baird upgraded Huron (HURN) to outperform from neutral, citing the company's better-than-expected retention efforts of MDs in core segments and continued stabilization in its more cyclical segments. The firm raised its price target to $30 from $27.
• Schlumberger (SLB) was upgraded to strong buy from outperform at Raymond James.
• Dollar General (DG) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• UDR Inc (UDR) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.

Analyst upgrades:

• Merriman upgraded Sunpower (NASDAQ: SPWRA) two levels to Buy from Sell after transitioning coverage. The firm believes Sunpower is emerging from the current recession as the CleanTech leader and has a $38-$48 price range on shares.
• Citigroup upgraded Varian Medical (NYSE: VAR) to Buy from hold as it believes capex pressure and health care reform uncertainty is priced into shares, and demand will return as hospital budgets stabilize. Citi raised its target on shares to $45 from $36.
• FBR Capital upgraded Gap (NYSE: GPS) to Outperform from Market Perform following the Q2 results to reflect product improvement and ongoing inventory control. The firm raised its target on shares to $24 from $18.
• Schnitzer Steel (NASDAQ: SCHN) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
• UDR Inc. (NYSE: UDR) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Wells Fargo.
• The Buckle (NYSE: BKE) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Roth Capital.

Analyst upgrades:

• Baird upgraded URS Corp. (NYSE: URS) to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to Outperform from Neutral based on momentum of new wins from stimulus funds and expectations for additional nuclear contracts.
• Jefferies upgraded EnerSys (NYSE: ENS) to Buy from Hold following the recent share weakness as it believes volumes have stopped declining and the June quarter is likely the bottom. The firm raised its target price to $18 from $11.
• RBC Capital upgraded Camden Property (NYSE: CPT) to Outperform from Sector Perform citing the company's improved financial capacity and portfolio position. The firm raised its target price to $34 from $23.
• CBS Corp (NYSE: CBS) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.
• UDR (NYSE: UDR) was raised to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital and to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• Zale (NYSE: ZLC) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merril.

Analyst upgrades:

• KeyBanc upgraded Epicor (NASDAQ: EPIC) to Buy from Hold based on several near-term catalysts that include possible convertible debt repurchases, reasonable Q4 results, a proxy fight, and a boost from the Epicor 9 product cycle in 2H09.
  
• KeyBanc also upgraded AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) to Buy from Hold based on relative valuation and said the company could benefit from lower iron ore, scrap natural gas, and labor inputs.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded Lennar (NYSE: LEN) to Overweight from Neutral based on relative valuation.
• Marriott (NYSE: MAR) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
  
• Raymond James (NYSE: RJF) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Wachovia.
  
• Deere (NYSE: DE) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein.

Analyst downgrades:

Analyst upgrades:

• William Blair upgraded Parexel (NASDAQ: PRXL) to Outperform from Market Perform on increased conviction in the company's earnings growth outlook following channel checks.
  
• Friedman Billings upgraded UDR Inc (NYSE: UDR) to Outperform from Market Perform and raised its target to $22 from $26 citing the company's approximate 8% implied cap rate on is vastly improved apartment portfolio.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) to Hold from Sell on valuation as they believe weak fundamentals are now priced into the stock.
• Goldman upgraded Portland General Electric (NYSE: POR) to Buy from Neutral and added shares to the Conviction Buy List.
  
• StellarOne (NASDAQ: STEL) and Union Bankshares (NASDAQ: UBSH) were upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Baird.
  
• Bernstein upgraded DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH) to Market Perform from Underperform.

Analyst downgrades:

• Deutsche Bank downgraded Align Tech (NASDAQ: ALGN) to Hold from Buy as they believe macroeconomic pressures will limit the company's ability to reach longer term growth expectations. Align's target was lowered to $8 from $14.
  
• Jefferies downgraded shares of Advanced Medical (NYSE: EYE) to Underperform from Buy and lowered its target to $9 from $28 following the company's lowered guidance as they believe macroeconomic pressures affecting LASIK volumes and the unanticipated slowdown in lens care should put continued pressure on the stock.
  
• ThinkPanmure expects the macro slowdown and credit crunch to slow Intel's (NASDAQ: INTC) growth and IT capex spending. The firm downgraded shares to Sell from Buy, lowered its 2009 EPS estimate to $1.01 from $1.35, vs. consensus of $1.46, and cut Intel's target to $12 from $24.
• MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) was lowered to Neutral from Positive at Susquehanna.
  
• Charles River Labs (NYSE: CRL) was downgraded at William Blair to Market Perform from Outperform.
  
• Deutsche Bank cut Heinz (NYSE: HNZ) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA) to Hold from Buy.

Analyst initiations:

• Old Second Bancorp (NASDAQ: OSBC) was initiated with a Market Perform rating and $17 target at Keefe Bruyette. The firm believes the company's exposure to strong markets should generate above-average returns.
  
• Susquehanna assumed Affiliated Computer (NYSE: ACS) with a Positive rating and $55 target and is positive on the company's low levels of customer concentration and high levels of geographic diversification.
  
• Cowen resumed coverage of AnnTaylor (NYSE: ANN) with a Neutral rating, citing the company's share loss to competitors and top-line weakness..
• MetLife (NYSE: MET) was assumed with an Overweight rating at Morgan Stanley.
  
• JMP Securities initiated HFF Inc (NYSE: HF) with a Market Perform rating.
  
• Genpact (NYSE: G) was initiated at Susquehanna with a Neutral rating.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: CTC Media, Callidus Software and Seattle Genetics were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Merrill initiated CTC Media (NASDAQ: CTCM) with a Buy rating, citing the company's healthy ad growth outlook and substantial barriers to entry.
  
• B. Riley initiated Callidus Software (NASDAQ: CALD) with a Buy rating and $7 target and believes the company's growing On-Demand offering is being overlooked by investors.
• Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ: SGEN) was assumed with an Overweight rating at JP Morgan. The firm views the company as an attractive investment opportunity given the company's growing pipeline of differentiated antibody therapies and partnership with Genentech (NYSE: DNA).

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Cowen initiated Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) with a Neutral rating and St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ) with an Outperform rating.
  
• Lehman initiated UDR Inc (NYSE: UDR) with an Equal Weight rating.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: MGM Mirage (MGM), KLA-Tencor Corp (KLAC), Raytheon Co (RTN) and four apartment REIT's were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Bear Stearns upgraded MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) to Outperform from Peer Perform following Kirk Kerkorian's intentions to purchase the Bellagio and City Center and also pursue strategic alternatives for the rest of the company.

• Matrix raised KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) to Buy from Hold, believing that growing demand for memory chips used in computers is leading to increasing revenues and profits.

• Cowen upgrade shares of Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) to Outperform from Neutral based on cash deployment potential from the RAC sale, pension EPS tailwind, foreign sales cycle, and strong execution.

• Wachovia upgraded shares of Archstone-Smith Trust (NYSE: ASN) and Apartment Investment and Management Co (NYSE: AIV) to Outperform from Market Perform and Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) and UDR, Inc (NYSE: UDR) to Market Perform from Underperform...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• AG Edwards upgraded Marathon Oil Corp (NYSE: MRO) and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RSA.A) to Buy from Hold.

• Stifel raised Citrix Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: CTXS) to Buy from Hold.

• RBC Capital raised Kilroy Realty Corp (NYSE: KRC), Boston Properties, Inc (NYSE: BXP) and Maquire Properties, Inc (NYSE: MPG) to Sector Perform from Underperform.

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