24/7 Wall St. » BV

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ADBE, BV, BP, BKW, CIEN, CL, CVS, DVA, DE, EQR, XOM, KMB, MRO, MSFT, PG, RIGL, RDS-A, S, TIVO, WYNN, YOKU, ZUMZ)

Trey — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 13:37:35 +0000

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

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) cut to Neutral a Janney.

Bazaarvoice Inc. (NASDAQ: BV) raised to Outperform with $18 target at Credit Suisse.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Burger King Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: BKW) started as Neutral at BofA/ML.

Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) cut to Perform at Oppenehimer.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) reiterated Buy and raised target to $56 from $54 at Argus and raised to Outperform at Macquarie.

Davita Inc. (NYSE: DVA) raised to Buy at Nomura.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) started as Outperform at Macquarie.

Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) defended on weakness and reiterated as Buy with $68 price target at Argus.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) started as Market Perform a BMO.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: RIGL) cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE: RDS-A) raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) reiterated Buy with $7.50 target at Argus.

TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) cut to Neutral at UBS.

Youku Tudou Inc. (NYSE: YOKU) started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.

Here are some other outlook pieces for the end of 2012 and 2013:

Fortune’s Top 10 Stocks to Buy for 2013
BofA’s 10 Defensive and Yield Stock Picks for 2013
The Big Gold Trade: 2013 Pairing Gold Versus Miners
S&P 500 Upside Targets for 2013 from Everyone
Our own 2013 Alternative Energy and Cleantech Outlook for 2013

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: ADBE, BKW, BP, BV, CIEN, CL, CVS, DE, DVA, EQR, KMB, MRO, MSFT, PG, RDS-A, RIGL, S, TIVO, WYNN, XOM, YOKU, ZUMZ

Flood of Secondary Offerings Coming To Market

Jon C. Ogg — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 12:07:27 +0000

The market is about to get a flood of secondary offerings. Some are post-IPO shares, others are established companies raising cash.

Bazaarvoice, Inc. (NASDAQ: BV) has filed to sell up to 1.7 million shares for the company and up to 6.8 million shares for backers, holders, and insiders. The book-runners are Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank Securities, and Credit Suisse Securities (USA); co-managers are BMO Capital Markets, Pacific Crest Securities, and Piper Jaffray. This underwriting group will have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,275,000 shares of common stock from Bazaarvoice.

Elli Mae, Inc. (NYSE: ELLI) is unloading more shares close to the top. Some 3.101 million shares are being sold at a price of $17.00 per share after a $17.03 close and versus a 52-week range of $3.46 to $17.62. Ellie Mae is offering 3,000,000 shares of common stock and certain of its directors and executive officers are offering 101,638 shares of common stock. The book-running managers are William Blair & Company and JMP Securities; co-managers are Needham & Company, Oppenheimer & Co., D.A. Davidson, and Wunderlich Securities. Ellie Mae has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 465,245 shares.

Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE: ETP) is a $10.5 billion MLP and it has filed for a 13.5 million unit secondary offering that will raise close to $600 million. The common units are indicated down 4.3% at $43.99 against a 52-week range of $38.08 to $51.00. The book-runners are BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Morgan Stanley, UBS Investment Bank, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and Wells Fargo Securities; co-managers are Raymond James and RBC Capital Markets. An overallotment option of up 2.025 million units is being granted to the syndicate.

Gas Natural Inc. (NYSEMKT: EGAS) is a natural gas utility company serving approximately 70,000 customers in seven states and it has priced a public offering of 700,000 shares of its common stock at $10.10 per share. The offering is for shares owned by Chairman/CEO Richard M. Osborne and the Company will not receive any proceeds from the sale. He has also granted Janney Montgomery Scott, the underwriter, a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 100,000 shares of common stock on the same terms and conditions to cover over-allotments. How nice of him. What is interesting is that this is at a premium to Wednesday’s closing bell price of $9.92 but shares had been at $10.60 before the disclosure of the coming sale.

Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) was looking like it had good news after spending $20 million to acquire another one-third interest in operating plants. As a result the ethanol producer is getting an extended credit maturity from 2013 to 2016 and a $5 million boost. Then the company issued a second release that it intends to offer units consisting of shares of common stock and warrants in an underwritten public offering. Shares are down a whopping 31% at $0.36 this morning but the price is low enough that most do not even track the company any longer.

Splunk, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) has come well of its highs since its IPO and now the company is prepping to unload shares into a lock-up expiration. This registration statement was for up to $300 million and all of the shares will be sold by existing shareholders (backers, holders, and insiders). Book-running managers are listed as Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Securities, J.P. Morgan Securities, and BofA Merrill Lynch; UBS Securities, Pacific Crest Securities, and Cowen and Company will be the co-managers.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Active Trader, IPOs, IPOs & Secondaries, Secondary Offering, Trading Alert Tagged: BV, EGAS, ELLI, ETP, PEIX, SPLK

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AIG, BV, BIIB, BX, CIEN, IBM, MCD, NVO, SNDK, SON, LUV, SBUX, SYY, TLAB, UAL)

Jon C. Ogg — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:24:39 +0000

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

American International Group (NYSE: AIG) Raised to Outperform at Bernstein.

Bazaarvoice Inc. (NASDAQ: BV) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse; Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley; Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank..

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) added to Top Pick list at Citigroup.

Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) removed from Conviction Buy List but maintained as Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE: NVO) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) Cut to Outperform at RBC.

Sonoco Products Co. (NYSE: SON) Started as Equal-weight at Barclays.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Added to Conviction Buy List as Goldman Sachs.

Sysco Corporation (NYSE: SYY) Started as Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.

United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL) Cut to Equal-weight at Barclays.

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: AIG, BIIB, BV, BX, CIEN, IBM, LUV, MCD, NVO, SBUX, SNDK, SON, SYY, TLAB, UAL

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (FSLR, MNST, TSL, ARMH, MAR, Y, CROX, DECK, MRVL, MCP, SPN, ANR, JCP, NEM, CHTP, BV, KCP, RBCN, KND)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 21:08:15 +0000

After opening higher this morning, markets rebounded from an early dip following a better-than-expected reading on consumer confidence and a bullish report on US new home sales. But sellers took over in the afternoon and the three major indexes turned south, with the DJIA falling into negative territory for the day. Crude oil continues to set new multi-month highs, with WTI ending up 1.8% for the day at $109.77/barrel, and a gain for the week of 6.3%. Brent crude is up 1.42% at $125.37/barrel. Gold settled down -0.6% at $1,776.40/ounce, but posted a weekly gain of 2.9%.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 2 points to 12,983.02 (-0.01%), the NASDAQ rose more than 6 points (0.23%) to 2,963.75, and the S&P 500 rose 0.17% or more than 2 points to 1,365.74.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) cut to ‘neutral’ at Susquehanna; Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: MNST) reiterated as ‘Conviction Buy List’ and estimates raised at Goldman Sachs; Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo and cut to ‘negative’ at Susquehanna; ARM Holdings plc (NASDAQ: ARMH) started as ‘overweight’ at Piper Jaffray; and Marriott International Inc. (NYSE: MAR) raised to ‘Conviction Buy List” at Goldman Sachs.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Allegheny Corp. (NYSE: Y) is up 4.4% at $315.72; Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) is down -5.8% at $19.24 (more coverage here); Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NASDAQ: DECK) is down -14.2% at $77.39; Marvel Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) is down -3.7% at $15.46; Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP) is down -7.9% at $26.80 (more coverage here); Superior Energy Services Inc. (NYSE: SPN) is down -1.8% at $29.92; Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) is down -2.9% at $20.40 (more coverage here); J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) is down -0.72% at $41.63; and Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) is down -2.3% at $62.32.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Chelsea Therapeutics International Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTP) is up 61% at $3.88. The drug maker yesterday received an FDA panel approval for a drug to treat symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

Bazaarvoice Inc. (NASDAQ: BV) is up about 37% at $16.40. Today is the social commerce site’s IPO and trading volume has topped 8.1 million on an original issue of about 9.5 million shares at $12/share. More coverage here and here.

Kenneth Cole Productions Inc. (NYSE: KCP) is up about 19% at $15.55 after posting a new 52-week high of $16.00 earlier. The apparel maker is being taken private at $15/share. More coverage here.

Rubicon Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RBCN) is down nearly -19% at $9.87. The LED maker missed estimates and offered weak guidance for the current quarter.

Kindred Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: KND) is down nearly -15% at $10.66. The healthcare services company posted a loss last night and announced that it would not renew 7 of 10 master leases with Ventas Inc. (NYSE: VTR).

Stay tuned for Monday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

10:00 a.m. – Pending home sales index
10:30 a.m. – Dallas Fed manufacturing survey
11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month Treasury bill auction

Have a great weekend!

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: ANR, ARMH, BV, CHTP, CROX, DECK, FSLR, JCP, KCP, KND, MAR, MCP, MNST, MRVL, NEM, RBCN, SPN, TSL, Y

Mid-day Movers (CHTP, BV, KCP, RBCN, KND)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:43:52 +0000

Shortly after noon ET today, all three major US stock indexes are showing gains, with the DJIA up more than 24 points at about 13,009, the Nasdaq up nearly 12 points at 2,969, and the S&P 500 up nearly 5 points to 1,368. After opening higher this morning, markets rebounded from an early dip following a better-than-expected reading on consumer confidence and a bullish report on US new home sales. The dollar is weaker today, with the dollar index down -0.37% at 78.342. The weaker dollar is pushing some commodities down, with precious metals losing the most.

Among the major movers at around noon today are Chelsea Therapeutics International Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTP), Bazaarvoice Inc. (NASDAQ: BV), Kenneth Cole Productions Inc. (NYSE: KCP), Rubicon Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RBCN), and Kindred Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: KND).

Chelsea Therapeutics is up more than 58% at $3.82. Volume is at mid-day is about 13x the daily average of about 1.2 million shares traded. The drug maker yesterday received an FDA panel approval for a drug to treat symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

Bazaarvoice is up about 39% at $16.62. Today is the social commerce site’s IPO and trading volume has topped 6.7 million on an original issue of about 9.5 million shares at $12/share. More coverage here and here.

Kenneth Cole Productions is up more than 19% at $15.58 after posting a new 52-week high of $16.00 earlier. Volume is already about 60x the daily average of 24,000 shares traded. The apparel maker is being taken private at $15/share. More coverage here.

Rubicon is down nearly -18% at $10.00. Volume at mid-day is 5x the daily average of around 440,000 shares traded. The LED maker missed estimates and offered weak guidance for the current quarter.

Kindred Healthcare is down nearly -15% at $10.65. Volume is about 3x the daily average of around 705,000 shares traded. The healthcare services company posted a loss last night and announced that it would not renew 7 of 10 master leases with Ventas Inc. (NYSE: VTR).

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire Tagged: BV, CHTP, KCP, KND, RBCN