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Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALU, AMZN, APOL, MT, T, CY, DK, EBAY, ESRX, GOOG, HFC, JNS, LVS, LOGI, JWN, POT, VZ, WPO, WFM, YHOO)

Administrator — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:23:23 +0000

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

Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU) Maintained Sell with $2.00 target at S&P.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Started as Buy at ThinkEquity.

Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) Cut to Hold at Argus.

ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) Raised to Neutral at BNP Paribas.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) Cut to Neutral at Baird.

Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: CY) Raised to Buy at Lazard (late Wednesday call).

Delek US Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DK) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse; named as value stock of the day at Zacks.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) Started as Buy at ThinkEquity.

Express Scripts Inc. (NASDAQ: ESRX) Reiterated Buy and raised target from $65 to $67 at BofA/ML.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Started as Buy at ThinkEquity.

HollyFrontier Corporation (NYSE: HFC) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Janus Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE: JNS) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) Reiterated Buy and raised target from $60 to $65 at BofA/ML.

Logitech International (NASDAQ: LOGI) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) Cut to Neutral at Baird.

The Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) Started as Hold at ThinkEquity.

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JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: ALU, AMZN, APOL, CY, DK, EBAY, ESRX, GOOG, HFC, JNS, JWN, LOGI, LVS, MT, POT, T, VZ, WFM, WPO, YHOO

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALU, AIG, DK, GRPN, HD, ING, K, MDVN, PIR, DGX, TOL, VE, PAY, WES, YRCW)

Administrator — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 13:22:59 +0000

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

Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) Cut to Sell at Citigroup; Cut estimates and target at Argus.
American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Delek US Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: DK) named value stock of the day at Zacks.
Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) Started as Buy at Benchmark.
The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) Raised to Outperform at RBC.
ING Groep NV (NYSE: ING) Cut to Hold at Soc-Gen.
Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair.
Medivation, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE: PIR) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE: DGX) Raised to Outperform at RBC.
Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Veolia Environnement S.A. (NYSE: VE) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
VeriFone Systems, Inc (NYSE: PAY) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
Western Gas Partners. L.P. (NYSE: WES) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
YRC Worldwide. Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) Maintained Underperform and target cut to $0.05 at Credit Suisse; maintained neutral with losing share at Zacks.

See the top analyst upgrades and downgrades of the prior week here.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AIG, ALU, DGX, DK, GRPN, HD, ING, K, MDVN, PAY, PIR, TOL, VE, WES, YRCW

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ADS, BSBR, BGFV, C, COST, DK, FSLR, IBKR, JDSU, JNJ, OKE, ORCL, PEP, PCLN, SPR, SBUX, V)

Administrator — Fri, 06 May 2011 12:17:44 +0000

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

Alliance Data Systems Corporation (NYSE: ADS) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. (NYSE: BSBR) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Big Five Sporting Goods (NASDAQ: BGFV) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $88 at Argus.
Delek US Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DK) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Reiterated Buy with $180 target at Argus.
Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ: IBKR) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
JDS Uniphase Corporation (NASDAQ: JDSU) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) Maintained Neutral at Zacks.
ONEOK Inc. (NYSE: OKE) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL) Reiterated Outperform and $42 target at Credit Suisse.
Pepsico, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs; raised estimates and target at BofA/ML.
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc (NYSE: SPR) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Reiterated Outperform and $44 target at Credit Suisse.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) Reiterated Underperform with $70 target at BofA/ML.

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JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ADS, BGFV, BSBR, C, COST, DK, FSLR, IBKR, JDSU, JNJ, OKE, ORCL, PCLN, PEP, SBUX, SPR, V

Energy Watch Part II: Refining Woes Remain (WNR, ALJ, DK, TSO, VLO, XOM, CVX, COP)

247wallst — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 08:29:21 +0000

It’s no secret the oil refining margins have been dropping like a rock for the past few quarters. When pump prices began to approach a US-wide average of about $4/gallon, US drivers started changing their habits.The latest numbers indicate miles driven dropped by 12.2 billion miles, almost 5%, in June. That translates into millions of gallons of gasoline that were either not refined or were not sold. This decrease has hit refiners hard.

The award for largest drop in value goes to Western Refining (NYSE:WNR), down nearly 84% from a 52-week high of $55.72 to close yesterday at $9.23. Next on the list are two refiners that are majority-owned by Isreali parents: Alon USA Energy Inc (NYSE:ALJ) fell by almost 72%, from a high of $41.25 to $10.49; and Delek US Holdings (NYSE:DK) dropped by 69%, from $28.34 to $8.64. Tesoro (NYSE:TSO) fell by 64%, from $65.98 to $18.43, and Valero (NYSE:VLO) fell by nearly 50%, from $75.75 to $34.79.

We could include the refining and marketing operations of majorintegrated companies like Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Chevron (NYSE:CVX),and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), which have also lost a ton of money inthe past year, but we’re saving integrated oil companies untiltomorrow’s installment.

Every one of these independent refiners faces the same problem: highcrude oil prices are compressing profit margins because the full costof the crude can’t be passed on at the pump. Consumers have been votingwith their feet. US gasoline consumption has dropped in every one ofthe last 12 months, and the year-over-year drop in consumption amountsto 2.5%. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) attributes"almost all" of the drop in consumption to higher prices for crude.

And the situation won’t improve. The EIA projects declines in USpetroleum consumption through the end of 2009. So, what are therefiners doing to deal with this situation? They’re either trying tosell some of their refineries or they’re trying to figure out a way toride out the tide of high crude prices. As the price of crude hasfallen over the past few weeks, refining stocks have recovered a bitbut all are still quite near 52-week lows.

Selling refineries seems like a non-starter. Who’s gonna buy? Anotherrefiner? Private equity? A possibility is a national oil company likeSaudi Aramco, which has plenty of capital and is currently building amassive refinery in Saudi Arabia to export refined products. When theseexports begin to hit the spot markets, gasoline prices will rise againand local refineries will benefit because they’ll be able to sellrefined products at the higher spot price.

But there is no evidence for that scenario. What’s real is thatrefiners are in for several more tough quarters. And if US driverscontinue the trend of driving less, we could actually be witnessingtrue demand destruction, not just demand erosion.

Paul Ausick
August 14, 2008