24/7 Wall St. » EPB

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ACM, ALNY, BIIB, BP, COF, SNP, CTSH, EA, EPB, ERJ, F, LPX, MFC, MM, RAX, SYNC, VRTX, WYNN)

Administrator — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:11:27 +0000

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

AECOM Technology Corporation (NYSE: ACM) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) Reiterated Buy with $145 target at Argus.

BP plc (NYSE: BP) Cut to Underweight at Barclays.

Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) Raised to Hold from Sell at Argus.

China Petroleum & Chemical (NYSE: SNP), or Sinopec, named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ: CTSH) Raised to Outperform at R.W. Baird.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) Raised to Buy at Needham.

El Paso Pipeline Partners, LP (NYSE: EPB) Started as Outperform with $38 target at Credit Suisse.

Embraer SA (NYSE: ERJ) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) maintained Buy with $19 target at Argus.

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE: LPX) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Manulife Financial (NYSE: MFC) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Millennial Media Inc. (NYSE: MM) Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs; Started as Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley; Started as Equal-weight at Barclays.

Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE: RAX) maintained Neutral with $57 target at Goldman Sachs.

Synacor Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNC) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) Raised to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) Maintained Outperform with $166 target at Credit Suisse.

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: ACM, ALNY, BIIB, BP, COF, CTSH, EA, EPB, ERJ, F, LPX, MFC, MM, RAX, SNP, SYNC, VRTX, WYNN

Kinder Morgan Agrees to Shed Assets to Complete El Paso Acquisition (KMI, KMP, EP, EPB)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:37:43 +0000

US pipeline company Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) has reached a tentative agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on asset sales that Kinder Morgan must make in order to get FTC approval for its $21.1 billion acquisition of El Paso Corp. (NYSE: EP).

Kinder Morgan has agreed to sell several assets of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (NYSE: KMP) including the Trailblazer Pipeline Company and the company’s 50% interest in the Rockies Express Pipeline. Kinder Morgan Inc. will part with its Kinder Morgan Interstate Gas Transmission (KMIGT) system as well as KMIGT’s Wyoming treating facilities.

To replace the assets it plans to sell, KMI is going to make KMP an offer it can’t refuse:

KMI expects to offer (drop down) EP assets to KMP to replace the assets that KMP will divest. KMI expects the divestitures and these dropdowns to occur contemporaneously, but subsequent to the close of the KMI-EP transaction. Now that the required asset divestitures are tentatively known, EP also expects to offer EP assets to El Paso Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EPB). Such a dropdown transaction to EPB could be completed by EP before the close of the KMI-EP transaction.

KMI president and CEO Richard Kinder said that the company would have preferred to keep these assets, but the sale is necessary in order to win FTC approval. El Paso’s shareholders voted last week to approve the sale to KMI.

The sale of KMP’s stake in the Rockies Express is especially interesting because the 1,700-mile pipeline from Wyoming to Ohio was built before the huge increase of natural gas production in the Marcellus shale and the coming boom in production from the Utica shale. There have even been rumors that the flow of the Rockies Express might be reversed, to carry some of that natural gas to the Midwest.

KMI did not identify any buyers for the assets, but Richard Kinder did say that the company does “anticipate significant interest in the Kinder Morgan assets that will be sold, particularly the Rockies Express Pipeline.”

Shares of KMI are off about -1.5% at $35.55 in a 52-week range of 23.51-$37.66. Shares of KMP are down nearly -2% at $82.27 in a 52-week range of $63.42-$90.60.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Mergers and Buy Outs, Oil & Gas Tagged: EP, EPB, KMI, KMP

MLP 2012 Sector Breakout? Outlook, Charts, Income (EPD, KMP, MWE, PAA, WPZ, MMP, BPL, EPB, KYN, AMJ, AMLP)

Administrator — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:41:14 +0000

This is an interesting point in time for the sector of Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs). The oil and gas business could greatly unlock much of the domestic unemployment woes (and the trade balance) if the United States will develop even the hint of an energy policy. The allure of MLP distributions is continuing to attract investors who would otherwise be investing in Treasuries, bonds, CDs, and other dividend or income strategies. Our take is that MLPs have not even reached half of their potential over the next decade, and as such we have given MLPs a place in the 24/7 Wall St. 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio.

We overlaid some of the recent Fitch Ratings analysis after the individual MLPs. The aim is to show how the MLPs are valued at today as well as how they compare to their Thomson Reuters consensus price target objective and 52-week trading ranges. The individual MLPs we are including on our own are as follows: Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD); Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (NYSE: KMP); MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: MWE); Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE: PAA); Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ); Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE: MMP); Buckeye Partners, L.P. (NYSE: BPL); and El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EPB).

As the end of 2012 approaches rapidly, we wanted to take a year-end look into the sector to see where there is opportunity versus risk. We have shown the basic fundamentals of some of our top go-to names in the MLP sector and have shown a chart of the key ETF in this sector. A report from Fitch Ratings earlier this month called MLPs fairly well positioned against economic regulatory risks and has noted that the sector should generate stable operating performance and financial credit measures for 2012. The belief was that these should remain consistent with recent past performance and the outlook includes natural gas pipelines as well as crude oil and refined products pipelines.

Income and dividend investors have become more aggressively interested in MLPs after a couple of years of Treasury rates and CD rates not paying anything of substance any more for income. Retirees need cash flow from their investments in order to live. Even though these distributions paid to investors act as dividends, there is usually a mixed combination of income and a return of capital. In short, not all of the distributions paid out are treated the same by the tax-man.

Our individual valuation analysis on some of the key individual MLPs is as follows:

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) is valued at $39.2 billion now and trades at $45.00, under its consensus target of $49.11 and it has a 52-week range of $36.00 to $46.70. The implied distribution per year based on the last payout was about 5.5%.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (NYSE: KMP) is valued at $26.9 billion and trades at $81.00, above its consensus target of $76.11 and against a prior 52-week range of $63.42 to $80.52. The implied distribution per year based on the last payout was 5.8%.

MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: MWE) is valued at $4.6 billion. This unit trades at $54.20, and is under the consensus target of $61.88 and it has a 52-week range of $39.00 to $56.82. The implied distribution per year based on the last payout was 5.4%.

Filed under: Bonds, Commodities, Compensation, Corporate Governance, Dividend, Economy, Editor's Picks, ETF, Financial Stocks, Infrastructure, Oil & Gas Tagged: AMJ, AMLP, BPL, EPB, EPD, KMP, KYN, MMP, MWE, PAA, WPZ

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (INTC, BA, AZO, DD, EPB, LEN, TOL, BRN, DMND, VMC, OXGN, HBP, PNCL, ROSE, NBG)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:06:28 +0000

US equity markets opened sharply lower this morning and continued falling before levelling off at around 200 pts down on the DJIA. The downturn followed closer examination of the European Union’s agreement last week which traders hoped would put an end to the debt crisis in Europe. That turned out not to be the case, however, with both Moody’s and Fitch Ratings expressing doubts about the permanence of the deal. An announcement of lowered guidance from Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) weighed on the tech sector. WTI crude oil is trading at $97.94/barrel shortly before today’s close, down about -1.5%, and gold is up about 1.85% at $1,744.50.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 162 points to 12,021.77 (-1.33%), the NASDAQ fell more than 34 points (-1.31%) to 2,612.26, and the S&P 500 fell nearly -1.5% or more than 18 points to 1,236.48.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) raised to overweight with an $82 target price at Morgan Stanley. Other ratings actions today include AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) maintained as ‘buy’ with a $381 target price at Argus, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD) cut to ‘neutral’ at Citigroup; El Paso Pipeline Partners L.P. (NYSE: ELB) started as ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) and Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE: TOL) cut to ‘hold’ at KeyBanc.

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Barnwell Industries Inc. (AMEX: BRN) is down about -2.8% at $3.09. There were no other earnings report of note today.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Diamond Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) is down more than -22% at $31.45. The snack food company faces more questions about its accounting. See our coverage for more details.

Vulcan Materials Co. (NYSE: VMC) is up more than 15% at $38.84. The construction materials company received an unsolicited takeover bid from competitor Martin Marietta Materials Inc. (NYSE: MLM).

Oxigene, Inc. (NASDAQ: OXGN) is up nearly 20% at $1.21. The biopharmaceutical company has signed an agreement with a Danish pharmaceutical firm to provide one of Oxigene’s cancer drugs in Europe.

Helix Biopharma Corp. (AMEX: HBP) is down nearly -13% at $1.36. The cancer drug development company has appointed a special committee and engaged an outside auditing firm to investigate claims of unauthorized “representations and assurances” made by certain shareholders to European shareholders who purchased the company’s shares in a private placement.

Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (NASDAQ: PNCL) is down nearly -16% at 1.17, after posting a new 52-week low of $1.08 earlier today. The regional airlines is initiating a program to cut costs and raise cash, and shares were downgraded today at Dahlman Rose from ‘hold’ to ‘sell’ with a target price of $0.75.

Rosetta Resources Inc. (NASDAQ: ROSE) is down -11% at $45.00. The oil & gas exploration & production company experienced disappointing results from two wells in northern Montana.

National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) is down more than -15% at $2.03, after posting a new 52-week low of $2.01 earlier today. The bank is the victim of the lack of enthusiasm that developed over the weekend for the Eurozone agreement.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. Here are some noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:30 a.m. – NFIB small business optimism index
8:30 a.m. – Retail sales
10:00 a.m. – Business inventories
2:15 p.m. – Federal Reserve open market committee meeting announcement.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AZO, BA, BRN, DD, DMND, EPB, HBP, INTC, LEN, NBG, OXGN, PNCL, ROSE, TOL, VMC

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALTR, AZO, BWP, BA, BYI, EPB, DD, EW, KND, LEN, LLTC, PCS, PLL, PNM, PSB, SAP, TOL)

Administrator — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:28:23 +0000

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

Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) Raised to Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.
AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) Maintained as Buy with a price target of $381 by Argus.
Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP (NYSE: BWP) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) Raised to Overweight with $82 price target at Morgan Stanley.
Bally Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: BYI) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EPB) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
E I DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD), or DuPont, Cut to Neutral at Citigroup; Lowered estimates for DuPont at Credit Suisse.
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW) Raised to Buy with $75 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: KND) is already a strong buy but was named as the value stock of the day by Zacks Investment Research.
Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.
Linear Technology (NASDAQ: LLTC) Reiterated Underperform and named Bear of the Day by Zacks Investment Research.
MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Pall Corporation (NYSE: PLL) on Focus List and raised price target to $68 at Credit Suisse.
PNM Resources, Inc. (NYSE: PNM) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
PS Business Parks (NYSE: PSB) reiterated Outperform and named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) Reiterated Buy with $84 price target objective by Argus.
Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.

If you want to receive the full 24/7 Wall St. 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio you can sign up in the email submission below. Each morning we send our free email list subscribers a snapshot of the key feature stories, the top daily analyst upgrades and downgrades, previews for key events, and many other aspects governing your finances.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ALTR, AZO, BA, BWP, BYI, DD, EPB, EW, KND, LEN, LLTC, PCS, PLL, PNM, PSB, SAP, TOL

In Defense of MLPs For 2012 (EPD, KMP, MWE, PAA, WPZ, MMP, BPL, EPB, KYN, AML, AMLP)

Administrator — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:20:39 +0000

With many Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) trading at or even above some of their expected target prices, we wanted to take a year-end look into the sector to see where there is opportunity versus risk. Fitch Ratings has issued a report calling MLPs as being fairly well positioned against economic regulatory risks and has noted that the sector should generate stable operating performance and financial credit measures for 2012. It noted that these should remain consistent with recent past performance and the outlook includes natural gas pipelines as well as crude oil and refined products pipelines. With so many retail and income-oriented investors treating this sector’s payouts as dividends (actually distributions of income and capital), we wanted to look at our universe again.

We have overlaid some of the Fitch Ratings analysis after the individual MLPs because we wanted to show you what the MLPs are valued at today as well as how they compare to their Thomson Reuters consensus price target objective and 52-week trading ranges. The individual MLPs we are including on our own are as follows: Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD); Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (NYSE: KMP); MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: MWE); Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE: PAA); Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ); Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE: MMP); Buckeye Partners, L.P. (NYSE: BPL); and El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EPB).

Our individual valuation analysis on some of the key individual MLPs is as follows:

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) is valued at $40 billion now and trades at $46.10, under its consensus target of $49.11 and it has a 52-week range of $36.00 to $46.70. The implied distribution per year based on the last payout was about 5.3%.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (NYSE: KMP) is valued at $26.1 billion and trades at $78.50, above its consensus target of $76.11 and against a 52-week range of $63.42 to $79.34. The implied distribution per year based on the last payout was 5.9%.

MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: MWE) is valued at $4.7 billion. This unit trades at $55.80, and is under the consensus target of $58.38 and it has a 52-week range of $39.00 to $56.40. The implied distribution per year based on the last payout was 5.3%.

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE: PAA) is valued at $10 billion, and its $67.30 price compares against a price target of $71.96 and its 52-week trading range is $54.90 to $67.74. The implied distribution per year based on the last payout was 5.9%.

Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ) is worth some $17.3 billion and its $59.65 price compares to a target of $60.81 and a 52-week range of $44.81 to $61.22. The implied distribution per year based on the last payout was about 5%.

Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE: MMP) is worth $7.35 billion and its $6.30 price is just under the $66.64 consensus price target. Its 52-week range is $51.00 to $65.92. The implied distribution per year based on the last payout was only about 4.9%.

Buckeye Partners, L.P. (NYSE: BPL) is valued at $5.95 billion and its $63.98 price is pretty far under the consensus price target of $70.25. It has a 52-week range of $54.51 to $68.92. The implied distribution per year based on the last payout was 6.5%.

El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EPB) is valued at $6.7 billion with a $32.60 share price. That is one of the largest discounts to the consensus price targets of peers as its target is $39.00. Its 52-week range is $31.34 to $38.36. The implied distribution per year based on the last payout was 6.1% based on today’s price.

Because many of the largest MLPs are so close to or above the consensus price targets, we recently gave the 24/7 Wall St. Model Dividend Portfolio some changes to focus more on the funds and ETFs (with payout rates based upon the average of the last two payouts): Kayne Anderson MLP Investment Company (NYSE: KYN) with a distribution of about 6.9%; JPMorgan Alerian MLP Index ETN (NYSE: AMJ) with a distribution of about 5.2%; and ALPS Alerian MLP ETF (NYSE: AMLP) with a distribution of about 6.3%.

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Banking, Bonds, Commodities, Corporate Governance, Dividend, Economy, Infrastructure, Oil & Gas Tagged: AML, AMLP, BPL, EPB, EPD, KMP, KYN, MMP, MWE, PAA, WPZ

Kinder Morgan Creates ‘The Exxon’ of Pipeline Companies (KMI, KMP, EP, EPB, EPD, XOM, CVX)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:26:50 +0000

Over the weekend, pipeline company Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI) announced that it would pay approximately $21.1 billion in cash and stock for El Paso Corp. (NYSE: EP) and El Paso Pipeline Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPB) to create the largest oil and gas pipeline company in the US. The combined busines, including Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (NYSE: KMP) will have an enterprise value of $94 billion and own and operate more than 80,000 miles of oil and gas pipelines. Until now, the largest US pipeline company has been Enterprise Products Partners LP (NYSE: EPD), with about 50,000 miles of oil and gas pipelines in its system.

The deal, which has been approved by the boards of both players, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2012. When it does, Kinder Morgan will have nearly twice the enterprise value of Enterprise, about the same spread as that between Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) and its nearest US competitor Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX).

The combination gives Kinder Morgan greater pipeline capacity to the US east coast market and additional capacity into southern Arizona and California. Kinder Morgan plans to proceed with plans that El Paso announced last year to sell off El Paso’s exploration and production assets. The sale of those assets will go to reduce the approximately $17 billion of debt Kinder Morgan is assuming from El Paso.

Kinder Morgan shares are up more than 5.5% in the first half hour of trading this morning, at $28.84, in a 52-week range of $23.51-$32.14, and Kinder Morgan Energy Partner shares are up nearly 3.5%, at $73.97, in a 52-week range of $63.42-$78.00. El Paso shares are up more than 23%, at $24.12, after posting a new 52-week high of $24.61 earlier. El Paso Pipeline Partners have seen a share-price drop of more than -10%, to $34.06, in a 52-week range of $31.34-$38.36. Both FBR Capital and Oppenheimer downgraded the shares this morning, from what were essentially ‘buy’ ratings to ‘hold’ ratings.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Mergers and Buy Outs, Oil & Gas Tagged: CVX, EP, EPB, EPD, KMI, KMP, XOM

Kinder Morgan to Take Over El Paso for $38 Billion (EP)(EPB)(KMI)

247wallst — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 20:28:36 +0000

Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) and El Paso (NYSE: EP) released an agreement for Kinder to acquire the outstanding shares of El Paso in a deal that will create the fourth largest energy company in North America. It will have 80,000 miles of pipelines. The total purchase price, which includes all debt at El Paso and the debt outstanding at El Paso Pipeline Partners (NYSE: EPB) is about $38 billion.

“This once in a lifetime transaction is a win-win opportunity for both companies,” said Kinder Morgan Chairman and CEO Richard D. Kinder. “The El Paso assets are primarily regulated interstate natural gas pipelines that produce substantial, stable cash flow and have access to key supply regions and major consuming markets. The natural gas pipeline systems of the two companies are very complementary, as they primarily serve different supply sources and markets in the United States. The transaction is expected to produce immediate shareholder value (upon closing) through strong cash flow accretion and offers significant future growth opportunities.”

The prices is a 47% premium over El Paso’s 20-day average trading price.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Filed under: Mergers and Buy Outs Tagged: EP, EPB, KMI

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AMR, BAC, STD, CREE, DELL, EMC, EPB, INTC, NRGY, IRDM, MAS, NTAP, QCOM, RVBD, SEM, TOL, X, VCLK, VECO, WLP, XLNX)

Administrator — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 12:11:30 +0000

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

AMR Corporation (NYSE: AMR) Cut to Sell at Ticonderoga.
Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) Removed from U.S. Focus List at Credit Suisse.
Banco Santander (NYSE: STD) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) Reiterated Buy with $22 target at Argus.
EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) Reiterated Buy with $32 target at Argus.
El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EPB) added to U.S. Focus List at Credit Suisse.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Cut to Reduce at Nomura; Reiterated Buy and raised target to $29 at Gleacher.
Inergy, L.P. (NYSE: NRGY) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.
Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) Started as Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
Masco Corporation (NYSE: MAS) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) Raised to Strong Buy at S&P Equity Research (late Wednesday).
QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) Reiterated Outperform at CRedit Suisse.
Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) Raised to Buy at Wunderlich.
Select Medical Holdings Corporation (NYSE: SEM) Reiterated Buy as Value at Zacks.
Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) Raised to Buy at S&P Equity Research (late Wednesday).
ValueClick, Inc. (NASDAQ: VCLK) Cut to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late Wednesday).
Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
WellPoint (NYSE: WLP) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) Reiterated Buy and Raised target to $41 at Gleacher & Co.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AMR, BAC, CREE, DELL, EMC, EPB, INTC, IRDM, MAS, NRGY, NTAP, QCOM, RVBD, SEM, STD, TOL, VCLK, VECO, WLP, X, XLNX

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ADTN, BMR, COF, CETV, ERTS, EPB, IDIX, LYG, MMM, NTGR, PLD, PL, SWC, TOL, TSM, VRTX, WSM)

Administrator — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:34:26 +0000

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

Adtran Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN) Reiterated Buy with $49 target at Argus.
BioMed Realty (NYSE: BMR) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) Reiterated Sell at Argus.
Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. (NASDAQ: CETV) Started as Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) Reiterated Hold at Argus.
El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EPB) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: IDIX) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE: LYG) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Netgear Inc. (NASDAQ: NTGR) Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
ProLogis (NYSE: PLD) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Protective Life Corp. (NYSE: PL) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Stillwater Mining Co. (NYSE: SWC) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: VRTX) Started as Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ADTN, BMR, CETV, COF, EPB, ERTS, IDIX, LYG, MMM, NTGR, PL, PLD, SWC, TOL, TSM, VRTX, WSM