24/7 Wall St. » A

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ANF, A, BBVA, CME, CROX, DE, DELL, DKS, HLF, HP, HBAN, ICE, LM, SINA, V, WAT)

Administrator — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:23:52 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls this Thursday.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) Raised to Neutral at BNP Paribas.

CME Group Icc. (NASDAQ: CME) Cut to Market Perform at Raymond James.

Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) Started as Neutral at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) Reiterated Buy with $96 target at Argus.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) Raised to Neutral at Stern Agee.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) Reiterated Buy and Raised target to $58 at Argus.

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) Raised to Buy at Caris; David Einhorn did not discuss the issue at the Value Investing Congress on Wednesday; Reiterated Buy with $76 target at Canaccord Genuity.

Helmerich & Payne Inc. (NYSE: HP) Raised to Buy with $55 target at Argus.

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ: HBAN) Maintained Outperform but cut 2012/2013 estimates and maintained $8 target at Credit Suisse.

IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE) Raised to Strong Buy at Raymond James.

Legg Mason Inc. (NYSE: LM) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.

SINA Corp. (NASDAQ: SINA) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V) Maintained Buy but removed from the Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Waters Corp. (NYSE: WAT) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox. We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: A, ANF, BBVA, CME, CROX, DE, DELL, DKS, HBAN, HLF, HP, ICE, LM, SINA, V, WAT

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — May 15, 2012

Paul Ausick — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:05:44 +0000

Two of the three major US stock indexes opened higher this morning as investors reacted to the news from Greece that no government could be formed and that a second election will be held next month. The news on German manufacturing was good (more coverage here) and US data was also mostly better, but not enough to deflect a weak opening. Equities moved higher later in the day, but overall the market looks set to close half a point lower than where it opened. The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.75% at 81.211. The GSCI commodity index is down about 1% at 639.40, with commodities mostly higher today, defying the stronger dollar. WTI crude oil closed down -0.8% at $93.98/barrel and Brent crude trades up 0.65% at $112.30/barrel. Gold settled down -0.3% today, at $1,557.10/ounce, the yellow metal’s lowest close of the year to date (more coverage here).

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 63 points to 12,632.08 (-0.50%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 9 points (-0.30%) to 2,893.76, and the S&P 500 fell -0.57% or nearly 8 points to 1,330.66.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) raised to ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) cut to ‘hold’ at Needham; Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) raised to ‘buy’ at Argus; McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) cut to ‘neutral’ at Cowen; and Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) started as ‘buy’ at Citigroup.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Renren Inc. (NYSE: RENN) is up 5.5% at $5.79; Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is up XX% at $XX; A123 Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: AONE) is up 4.5% at $40.63; Arctic Cat Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAT) is down -10.6% at $37.84; Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) is up 6.8% at $50.45 after posting a new 52-week high of $51.65 earlier today; Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS) is down -0.5% at $10.00; TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) is up 7.1% at $42.50; Valspar Corp. (NYSE: VAL) is down -6.7% at $46.45, and The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) is down -2.6% at $48.61 (more coverage here).

On Wednesday we are scheduled to get earnings from 8×8 Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT), Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF), Chico’s FAS Inc. (NYSE: CHS), Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE), Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ: JACK), and Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Facebook Inc. (soon to be NASDAQ: FB) raised its IPO price range from from $28-$35 to $34-$38. It is possible the world will regain its balance following the company’s IPO, expected for Friday. But maybe not.

Patriot Coal Corp. (NYSE: PCX) is down -18.8% at $3.92 after posting a new 52-week low of $3.91 earlier today. The coal miner lowered shipment and price expectations this morning. More coverage here.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is up 1.7% at $36.39. CEO Jamie Dimon dodged a bullet at today’s shareholder meeting and kept both his jobs.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard is giving a speech. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
8:30 a.m. – Housing starts
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
2:00 p.m. – FOMC minutes released

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: A, ACAT, AMAT, AMZN, ANF, AONE, CHS, CL, DE, DKS, EGHT, FB, JACK, JPM, MCD, PCX, PSX, RENN, SKS, TGT, TJX, VAL

Two Problems For Apple iPad

247wallst — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 10:07:42 +0000

The new Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad has mechanical and data consumption problems. So far they have not dented the pace of the sales of the iPad which reached three million units in first four days it was on the market.

Consumer reports wrote that, under certain conditions, the tablet runs much hotter than earlier versions–up to 116 degrees. That may not matter to users, but it is bad PR.

And, The Wall Street Journal reports that people who have watched a few hours of movies on the machine hit the high end of their data plans. That could make owning an iPad very expensive. Apple no longer has Steve Jobs to take the stage at a major event and explain away the problems. The company has to hope that the sales frenzy the iPad has created will not be undermined by the reports.

Filed under: Consumer Electronics Tagged: A, AAPL

Top Earnings & Economic Previews For The Day Ahead (ANF, A, NILE, CLWR, CMCSA, NVDA, PCG, DVN, DE, GG, WFR, NTAP, TEVA)

Administrator — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:28:53 +0000

Wednesday is a fairly busy day for earnings expectations. We are expecting the following reports: Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF); Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A); Blue Nile Inc. (NASDAQ: NILE); Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR); Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA); NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA); PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG); Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE: DVN); Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE); Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG); MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR); NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP); and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NASDAQ: TEVA). We have used the consensus estimate data from Thomson Reuters and compiled additional data on each.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) is expected to report $1.12 EPS on $1.33 billion in sales; shares are very close to 52-week lows and the downward channel in the chart continues.

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A) $0.69 EPS and $1.65 billion in sales. Interestingly enough, this one was one of the stocks outperforming Apple so far in 2012.

Blue Nile Inc. (NASDAQ: NILE) $0.42 EPS on $123.17 million.

Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR) -$0.35 EPS and $356.72 million in sales; we will be watching closely for any discussions about funding its business plan.

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) $0.41 EPS on $14.87 billion in sales; shares are very close to a 52-week high at $27.20 versus a high of $27.52.

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) $0.19 EPS on $950.44 million in sales; expected 7% sales growth and a drop in earnings. The most recent Rambus pact details may become more clear as those patent agreements were not disclosed.

PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG) $0.85 EPS on $3.49 billion in sales. PG&E shares are off of highs more than other utilities in general and room for the 4.4% dividend to be discussed.

Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE: DVN) $1.48 EPS

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) $1.23 EPS on $6.49 billion in sales; watch currency discussions for guidance ahead.

Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG) is one of the top gold companies with a $36.5 billion market value. Estimates are $0.60 EPS and $1.49 billion in revenue.

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) is now down big again due to Energy Conversion Devices bankruptcy on fears that the solar sector is again going to crumble. This has moved from a value stock to a value trap now that it is expected to lose money. Estimates are -$0.06 EPS and $769.49 million in sales.

NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) $0.58 EPS on $1.56 billion in sales; next quarter $0.63 EPS on $1.68 billion in sales; under $40 it is way under its 52-week high and now valued at only about 16.5-times fiscal April-2012 earnings estimates.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (NASDAQ: TEVA) is going to show whether or not generic ambitions can trump branded drugs. The turnaround in the share price has just not materialized. Estimates are $1.58 EPS and $5.63 billion in sales.

ECONOMIC DATA FOR WEDNESDAY:

8:30 AM EST Empire Manufacturing (Feb.)
9:15 AM EST January Industrial Production expected +0.6%
9:15 AM EST January Capacity Utilization expected 78.6%
10:00 AM EST NAHB optimism (Feb.)
10:00 Treasury’s Geithner testifies to House Ways & Means on 2013 budget
10:30 AM EST EIA Weekly Petroleum Inventory
2:00 PM EST FOMC Minutes

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Calendar, Earnings, Economy Tagged: A, ANF, CLWR, CMCSA, DE, DVN, GG, NILE, NTAP, NVDA, PCG, TEVA, WFR

5 Big S&P 500 Tech Stocks Outperforming Apple in 2012 (AAPL, CA, TDC, CRM, A, BRCM, DELL)

Administrator — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:53:30 +0000

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has been on fire in 2012 and has hit new high after new high. If you just benchmark the $500 price, Apple shares are up 23.4% so far in 2012. What is amazing is that there are some surprises in technology stocks in the S&P 500 Index which have managed to outperform Apple so far year-to-date.

As it turns out the stocks of CA Inc. (NYSE: CA), Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC), Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A), and Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) have all outperformed Apple so far in 2012. Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is even a runner-up as its gain is only 1% less than Apple’s great 2012 run.

CA Inc. (NYSE: CA) closed out 2011 at $20.03 and at $26.79 the stock is the best of the technology sector stocks in the S&P 500 with gains of 33% year-to-date after adjusting for a dividend payment. Speaking of which, that dividend yield is close to 3.7%. The mean price target is $27.50 from analysts, so that implies only about 3% more upside as it stands today.

Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC) closed out 2011 at $48.51 and after earnings the stock is now up to $61.75 for a year-to-date gain of just over 27%. Enterprise data storage remains in demand. Thomson Reuters has a price target of $67.42 and that implies just under 10% upside left in the stock.

Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) closed out 2011 at $101.46, and shares are up 29.6% year-to-date with the stock at $131.50. With SaaS, CRM, and the cloud, the valuation here remains an astronomical 94-times next year’s forward earnings estimates. The consensus price target of $147.70 leaves an implied upside of almost 13%.

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A) is diversified enough in a number of sectors that it might not feel like a true technology company even though it is in the S&P 500 Technology screens. After closing 2011 out at $34.93, its shares are up 25.5% at $43.85. The consensus analyst mean target of $49.79 leaves an implied upside of 13.4% over the next year. That would not even be a 52-week for the stock.

Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) has so far lived up to when Jim Cramer touted it as a tech smartphone value stock. Even with a drop so far on Monday of almost -1.5% it is trading at $36.50 for a year-to-date gain of 24.3% from the $29.36 closing price of 2011. The consensus analyst mean target of $41.77 leaves an implied upside remaining of 14.4%.

There is a surprise runner-up status by Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL). With a 0.8% gain so far on Monday to $17.90, Dell is up 22.35% year-to-date from the $14.63 close of 2011. Boy, Dell? Really? Dell has barely 1% of upside left before running into the mean consensus analyst target of $18.17.

As far as how all of this compares to Apple, a $500 Apple share price leaves an implied 13.7% upside to the consensus analyst price target of $568.49 on the stock even if some analysts are actually expecting far more upside.

Is it ironic that S&P downgraded the technology sector today calling the group overextended on a historic basis? Keep in mind that we still have over ten months until the end of the year.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Consumer Electronics, PC Companies, Software, Technology Companies, Trading Alert Tagged: A, AAPL, BRCM, CA, CRM, DELL, TDC

Top Earnings Previews For The Week Ahead (CRL, CIM, NAT, RAX, AVP, GT, MET, OMC, ZNGA, A, NVDA, PCG, DVN, DE, NTAP, CMCSA, APA, DTV, WM, JWN, AMAT, DUK, HNZ, CPB)

Administrator — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:22:53 +0000

Earnings season is starting to slow down a bit but we will still have some sector-moving earnings reports from major companies. 24/7 Wall St. has prepared earnings previews for the following companies:

Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE: CRL); Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM); Nordic American Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: NAT); Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX); Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP); Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT); MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET); Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC); Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA); Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A); NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA); PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG); Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE: DVN); Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE); NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP); Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA); Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA); DIRECTV, Inc. (NASDAQ: DTV); Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM); Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN); Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT); Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK); H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE: HNZ); and Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB).

Earnings estimates are from Thomson Reuters and the dates may change by the companies. More detailed previews will be available each day this coming week with much more color and trading information.

MONDAY, FEB 13

Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE: CRL) $0.56 EPS

Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) $0.11 EPS

Nordic American Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: NAT) -$0.29 EPS… with losses expected this year, we will be watching for any dividend news after the company sold 5.5 million shares last month.

Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX) $0.15 on $281 million in sales; this one still trades at close to 60-times 2012 expected earnings of $0.81 EPS.

TUESDAY, FEB 14

Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP) $0.51 EPS on $3.11 billion; a serial disappointment in shares, but turnaround investors have hopes that the bar is set extremely low. Earnings will prove if there is a value story here or just more of a value trap.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) $0.20 EPS on $5.88 billion in sales; this is still a long-term turnaround story valued at less than 7-times expected earnings.

MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET) $1.24 EPS on $16.81 billion in revenues; shares are mid-way between the 52-week high and 52-week low.

Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) $0.95 EPS on $3.8 billion in sales.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) estimates are not yet available for its first quarterly earnings report. Shares are now back over $13.00 due to the Facebook-effect on anything tied to social media.

Don’t forget about Valentine’s Day….

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Calendar, Earnings, The Week Tagged: A, AMAT, APA, AVP, CIM, CMCSA, CPB, CRL, DE, DTV, DUK, DVN, GT, HNZ, JWN, MET, NAT, NTAP, NVDA, OMC, PCG, RAX, WM, ZNGA

Agilent Joins The Great Dividend Chase (A)

Administrator — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:04:31 +0000

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is often forgotten about by investors now, but the company operates in more than 100 nations and employs more than 18,000 workers. The company is into chemical analysis, life sciences, electronics and communications. Now it wants to stand out to investors by joining the ranks of established companies which pay shareholders a dividend.

The company has now declared a $0.10 per quarter dividend, which is its first regular dividend paid to shareholders. The payment will be paid on April 25 to holders of record as of the close on April 3.

After a 0.8% gain to $40.30, the goal here was simple: a 1% dividend yield for investors. It is not much at $0.40 on an annualized basis but that implies much room for growth in that payout ahead. The market value is $14 billion today and the $40.30 price compares to a 52-week range of $28.67 to $55.33.

There is a massive coverage ratio here on income versus payouts as well if the company comes anywhere close to its Thomson Reuters estimates. The $0.40 per year compares to earnings estimates of $3.18 EPS for fiscal October-2012 and $3.51 EPS for fiscal October-2013. While those are non-GAAP earnings and companies generally have to base dividends on Cash earnings or GAAP earnings, that comes to only 12.5% of the projected income to be paid out in dividends.

As of October 31, 2011, Agilent had some $3.527 billion in cash and cash equivalents, with total equity at $4.3 billion and net tangible assets of $2.3 billion.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Corporate Governance, Dividend Tagged: A

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (A, CRM, AAP, LOW, ALIM, WMT, BZH, COV, DKS, TJX, SKS, MGI, PEIX, NLST, FFN, MTOR)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:04:55 +0000

Stocks opened lower this morning and stayed lower for nearly the entire first half of the day, with buyers most likely waiting to see what would happen with Italian bond rates. The bonds ended the day at a yield slightly above 7%, which was probably not as bad as expected. A solid, if modest, gain took hold in the early afternoon as the October retail sales report turned in a better-than-expected rise. Producer prices were lower, though core inflation was flat, and the Empire State manufacturing index was higher. Crude oil is up nearly 1.5%, at $99.50/barrel, and the euro has given up an early gain against the dollar.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 17 points to 12,096.39 (0.14%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 29 points (1.09%) to 2,686.20, and the S&P 500 rose 0.48% or more than 6 points to 1,257.80.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A) raised to ‘buy’ at BofA/ML. Other action included Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) reiterated at ‘neutral’ by Argus; Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE: AAP) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) target raised from $25 to $28 at Argus; Alimera Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: ALIM) cut to ‘neutral’ with a $2 target at Credit Suisse.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is down about -2.25%, at $57.57; Beazer USA Homes Inc. (NYSE: BZH) is down about -0.5%, at $2.21; Covidien plc (NYSE: COV) is up nearly 2.5%, at $48.44; Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. (NYSE: DKS) is up nearly 5.5%, at $41.73; TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TJX) is up about 1% at $61.16; and Saks, Inc. (NYSE: SKS) is up 2.5%, at $10.46. For a more detailed look at today’s retail earnings, see our earlier story.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Moneygram International, Inc. (NYSE: MGI) is up about 616%, at $18.68. The company announced a 1-for-8 reverse stock split this morning, shrinking the number of outstanding shares from 1.3 billion to 162.5 million. The stock closed yesterday at $2.61, and posted a new 52-week high this morning of $19.61.

Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) is up nearly 30%, at $1.31. There is no direct news from the company, but the price jump is very likely related to an announcement yesterday from Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) that it was building a new plant in Canada that would double its annual production of ethanol.

Netlist, Inc. (NASDAQ: NLST) is up more than 24%, at $2.92. The company has signed deals with both IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) under which Netlist’s cloud memory product undergo qualification testing for use with the two companies’ servers.

FriendFinder Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFN) is down more than -20%, at $1.50, after posting a new 52-week low of $1.42. The company has been notified of a class-action lawsuit charging that it made false statements related the number of shares of stock subject to the 180-day lock-up period following the company’s IPO last May.

Meritor, Inc. (NYSE: MTOR) is down more than -17%, at $6.58. The company reported solid earnings today, but cut next year’s revenue guidance by about 10%.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Richmond Federal Reserve Bank president Jeffrey Lacker and Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren are giving speeches tomorrow. Here’s a list of other noteworthy events (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage purchase applications
8:30 a.m. – Consumer price index
9:15 a.m. – Federal Reserve industrial production index
10:00 a.m. – Housing market index
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Analyst Calls, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: A, AAP, ALIM, BZH, COV, CRM, DKS, FFN, LOW, MGI, MTOR, NLST, PEIX, SKS, TJX, WMT

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AAP, A, ALIM, CNP, CIM, CWTR, GT, K, LOW, M, NU, NST, CRM, FIRE)

Administrator — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:39:41 +0000

These are some of Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls.

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Alimera Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALIM) Cut to Neutral with $2 target at Credit Suisse.
CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) Reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Coldwater Creek Inc. (NASDAQ: CWTR) Added to Strong Sell List at Zacks.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) Cut to Sell as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) Raised target to $28 from $25 at Argus.
Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) named value stock of the day at Zacks.
Northeast Utilities (NYSE: NU) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
NSTAR (NYSE: NST) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) Reiterated Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Sourcefire, Inc. (NASDAQ: FIRE) Initiated as Buy at BofA/ML.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: A, AAP, ALIM, CIM, CNP, CRM, CWTR, FIRE, GT, K, LOW, M, NST, NU

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AET, A, DECK, GPN, TV, HMIN, ITC, IVN, ERIC, MMC, MCD, PAL, RGLD, TEVA, TLAB, TCBI)

Administrator — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:25:13 +0000

These are some of this Monday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this morning.

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) added to Strong Buy List at Zacks.
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) Started as Buy at UBS.
Deckers Outdoor Corporation (NASDAQ: DECK) Started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) named as Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.
Grupo Televisa S.A. (NYSE: TV) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Home Inns & Hotels Management Inc. (NASDAQ: HMIN) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
ITC Holdings Corp. (NYSE: ITC) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (NYSE: IVN) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) maintained Neutral but cut target and estimates by Goldman Sachs.
Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE: MMC) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) Maintained Outperform on Focus List and target raised to $104 at Credit Suisse.
North American Palladium Ltd. (NYSE: PAL) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) Raised to Outperform at National Bank.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB) Cut to Underperform at Zacks.
Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: TCBI) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: A, AET, DECK, ERIC, GPN, HMIN, ITC, IVN, MCD, MMC, PAL, RGLD, TCBI, TEVA, TLAB, TV