Analyst Upgrades

• Thoratec (THOR) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• TW Telecom (TWTC) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• TAL Education (XRS) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Amedisys (AMED) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

Analyst Downgrades

• Navigators (NAVG) to neutral from outperform at Macquarie.
• El Paso Electric (EE) to hold from buy at Jefferies.
• Hancock Holding (HBHC) to hold from buy at Wunderlich.
• California Water Service (CWT) and American States Water (AWR) to neutral from buy at Janney Capital.
• Mednax (MD) to hold from buy at Deutsche Bank.

Analyst Upgrades

• UBS upgraded JPMorgan (JPM) to buy from neutral and has a $50 price target on the stock. The firm cites valuation for the upgrade.
• Morgan Joseph upgraded Deere (DE) to buy from hold, citing strong U.S. demand for combines and tractors, favorable fundamentals in Brazil, and expectations for improved domestic construction-equipment demand. The firm has a $75 price target on the stock.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Venoco (VQ) to outperform from market perform to reflect increased confidence in the company's Monterey Shale potential.
• GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Tenet Healthcare (THC) was upgraded to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
• Agnico-Eagle (AEM) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.

Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded Wimm-Bill-Dann (WBD) to buy from hold.

Analyst Downgrades

• FBR downgraded Preferred Bank (PFBC) to underperform from market perform after the company said it would restate earnings. The firm lowered its price target on shares to $1.50 from $4.

Analyst Initiations

• Global Hunter initiated Venoco (VQ) with a buy. Global Hunter sees several potential catalysts for Venoco in 2010 with the company employing horizontal drilling onshore California. The firm has a $20 target on the shares.
• Global Hunter initiated Pantry (PTRY) with a neutral. Global Hunter cites near-term gross margin concerns for its Neutral rating on Pantry. The firm has a $15.50 target on shares.

Analyst upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Portland General Electric (NYSE: POR) to Buy from Hold on valuation as it finds the risk/reward on shares attractive at current levels. The firm raised its target price to $22 from $20.
  
• FBR Capital upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) to Outperform from Market Perform after channel checks indicated recent sales are driving increased traffic and easing market share losses. The firm raised its target price on shares to $37 from $21.
• Barclays upgraded Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) to Overweight from Equal Weight as it believes the company is well positioned for a rebound in advertising and that the valuation is compelling at current levels. The firm raised its target on shares to $20 from $15.
• Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) was raised to Overweight from Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.
  
• U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) and CB Richard Ellis (NYSE: CBG) were upgraded at Goldman to Neutral from Sell.
  
• Dolby Laboratories (NYSE: DLB) was upgraded at JP Morgan to Overweight from Neutral.

Analyst upgrades:

• HSBC upgraded Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) to Overweight from Neutral as it believes the risk of immediate nationalization has been removed.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded DTS Inc (NASDAQ: DTSI) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect accretion from the Neural acquisition and its expectation the company can generate strong cash flow during the downturn. The firm raised its target to $18.
  
• Cowen upgraded Coach (NYSE: COH) to Outperform from Neutral citing the recent sell-off in shares.
  
• BJ's Wholesale (NYSE: BJ) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
  
• First Horizon (NYSE: FHN) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  
• Spartech (NYSE: SEH) was raised to Hold from Underweight at KeyBanc.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded Check Point Software (NASDAQ: CHKP) to Buy from Hold as they believe the recently acquired Nokia security appliance business should drive 2009 revenue and EPS meaningfully higher. The firm raised their target price to $27 from $20.
  
• Goldman upgraded Motorola (NYSE: MOT) to Buy from Neutral and added shares to its Conviction Buy List. The firm expects shares to outperform even if phones don't given the overly negative value for the business.
  
• Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital. The firm cites improving margin visibility and execution, and lowered expectations for the upgrade.
• Ares Capital (NASDAQ: ARCC) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan.
  
• Canadian Pacific (NYSE: CP) was raised at Canaccord to Buy from Hold.
  
• Lloyds TSB (NYSE: LYG) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Analyst downgrades:

• JP Morgan downgraded Venoco (NYSE: VQ) to Underweight from Overweight based on valuation and debt concerns.
  
• UBS downgraded MEMC Electronic (NYSE: WFR) to Neutral from Buy, added shares to the Short-Term Sell List and lowered their target to $14.50 from $20. The firm believes 2009 wafer sales will be much worse than expected.
  
• Deutsche Bank downgraded SINA (NASDAQ: SINA) to Hold from Buy to reflect integration risks from the recent acquisition of Focus Media's digital OOH assets as they see little room for near-term upside.
• Palm (NASDAQ: PALM) was lowered to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan.
  
• Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) was cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman.
  
• Telus (NYSE: TU) was downgraded at Banc of America/Merrill to Underperform from Neutral.

Analyst initiations:

• Societe Generale believes HSBC (NYSE: HBC) will need to cut its dividend and raise additional capital in order to strengthen its capital base. Shares were initiated with a Sell rating.
  
• Citigroup initiated United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) with a Hold rating and $55 target. The firm sees downside risk to the company's guidance and believes consensus estimates could be too high.
  
• B. Riley assumed Matrixx Initiatives (NASDAQ: MTXX) with a Buy rating and $22 target. The firm finds shares attractively valued and sees limited downside risk from current levels.
• ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML) was initiated at Deutsche Bank with a Hold rating.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Venoco, Newfield Exploration and Regions Financial were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Venoco (NYSE:VQ) to Buy from Hold on increased confidence in the company's 5%-10% 2008 production growth target.
  
• Newfield Exploration (NYSE:NFX) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings. The firm said there has been significant progress in the economics of NFX's Woodford play.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) to Hold from Sell on valuation, as they their concerns are now priced into shares.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• ASML Holdings (NASDAQ:ASML) was raised at Merrill to Buy from Neutral.
  
• UBS upgraded Forest Oil (NYSE:FST) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Bear upgraded Gaylord Entertainment (NYSE:GET) to Outperform from Peer Perform.

Just call it the last equity blast before summer. Wall Street's equity market offers a full schedule this week, as lead managers and companies attempt to capture as much buy-side demand as possible a week before the shorter 4th of July week, which is traditionally the start of a lighter syndicate period on Wall Street.

All told, 11 IPOs and 8 Secondaries are on the docket. Those deals tentatively scheduled to price include:

IPOs:

Tuesday

• 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.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Petrohawk Energy Corp (HAWK), Time Warner Cable Inc (TWC) and GameStop Corp (GME) were today's notable initiations:

• Jefferies initiated Petrohawk Energy Corp (NASDAQ: HAWK) with a Buy rating and $14.50 target, as the firm believes Petrohawk has the right assets to pursue the "acquire-exploit-self" strategy well.

• Bear Stearns started Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) with a Peer Perform rating.

• GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME) was initiated with a Buy rating and $67 target at Nollenberger.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• AG Edwards initiated Venoco, Inc (NYSE: VQ) with a Buy rating on valuation.

• Credit Suisse started CarMax, Inc (NYSE: KMX) with a Neutral rating and $55 target.

• Jefferies considers Ultra Petroleum Corp (AMEX: UPL) the most dominant company in the Pinedale Anticline, the nation's second largest natural gas field and they expect 2007 to be a pivotal year. The firm initiated Ultra Petroleum with a Buy rating and $64 target.

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