24/7 Wall St. » IBN

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BBY, BWLD, CR, EMC, EXLP, GPS, IBN, INVN, LULU, MU, PAAS, BTU, RTN, RIMM, VVUS)

Administrator — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:07:22 +0000

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

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) Maintained Hold at Argus.

Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) Started as Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Crane Company (NYSE: CR) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.

EMC Inc. (NYSE: EMC) Reiterated Buy and Raised target to $36 at Argus.

Exterran Partners L.P. (NYSE: EXLP) Started as Neutral with $23 target at Credit Suisse.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) Raised to Buy at Janney.

ICICI Bank Ltd. (NYSE: IBN) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

InvenSense, Inc. (NASDAQ: INVN) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer; Started as Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) Started as Buy at UBS.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) Reiterated Buy with $11 target at Jefferies.

Pan American Silver Corporation (NASDAQ: PAAS) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) Cut to Sector Perform at RBC.

Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Maintained Underperform with $12 target at Jefferies.

VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) Raised to Buy at Brean Murray.

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: BBY, BTU, BWLD, CR, EMC, EXLP, GPS, IBN, INVN, LULU, MU, PAAS, RIMM, RTN, VVUS

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BLK, EMC, GOOG, HUM, IBN, INTC, JDSU, JCI, NCIT, TNP, TXN, TSCO, VLO, WU, CCL, RCL)

Administrator — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:22:36 +0000

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

BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) Reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Maintained Buy but cut target to $700 at Canaccord Genuity.
Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
ICICI Bank Ltd. (NYSE: IBN) Cut to Underperform and named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Cut to Hold at Kaufman; Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $35 at Credit Suisse; Maintained Hold with $24 target at Canaccord Genuity.
JDS Uniphase Corporation (NASDAQ: JDSU) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
NCI. Inc. (NASDAQ: NCIT) Cut to Underperform at Wells Fargo.
Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd. Co. (NYSE: TNP) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) Cut to Hold at Needham.
Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ: TSCO) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $92 at Argus.
Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) Reiterated Buy with $35 price target at Argus.
Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU) Reiterated Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) lowered targets and estimates by Credit Suisse.

If you enjoyed the top analyst calls, you can sign up in the box below to join our morning email list to receive news directly in your inbox each morning. We include major analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO and M&A news, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BLK, CCL, EMC, GOOG, HUM, IBN, INTC, JCI, JDSU, NCIT, RCL, TNP, TSCO, TXN, VLO, WU

The BRIC Cheer: Stimulus Coming To India (EPI, PIN, IFN, IIF, INFY, TTM, IBN, SLT)

Administrator — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:22:37 +0000

India could finally be starting to turn itself around. Now that the nation is no longer so ultra-concerned about inflation tearing apart its population, the country is aiming for some stimulus measures. The FT has reported that the nation is launching a $35 billion public sector investment program. The aim is to boost infrastructure spending as well as to purchase energy even from foreign firms. Of the $35 billion, some $7 billion was earmarked for energy in coal, natural gas, and oil.

As far as how this is impacting closed-end funds and ETFs, the moves are below and the 52-week ranges have been offered so that investors can see just how much pain has been there in the last year:

WisdomTree India Earnings (NYSE: EPI) is up 0.9% at $17.93 and the 52-week trading range is $15.44 to $25.58.

PowerShares India (NYSE: PIN) is up 0.8% at $18.30 and the 52-week range is $15.96 to $24.59.

India Fund, Inc. (NYSE: IFN) is up 0.4% at $21.46 and the 52-week trading range is $18.61 to $33.99.

Morgan Stanley India Investment Fund, Inc. (NYSE: IIF) is up 0.7% at $15.75 and the 52-week trading range is $13.59 to $24.57.

These are no ETFs nor closed-end funds but there are some key ARDs to watch:

Infosys Limited (NASDAQ: INFY) was recently butchered on its earnings and revenue warnings and shares are only up marginally at $52.00 versus a 52-week range of $46.12 to $74.52.

Tata Motors Ltd. (NYSE: TTM) is up 2.2% at $21.18 versus a 52-week range of $14.33 to $29.06.

ICICI Bank Limited (NYSE: IBN) is up only 0.25% at $30.95 against a 52-week range of $24.14 to $51.50.

Sterlite Industries (India) Limited (NYSE: SLT), which operates as a non-ferrous metals and mining company, is up 1% at $8.67 versus a 52-week range of $6.64 to $16.60.

$35 billion might not sound like much when you consider the U.S.-sized stimulus packages and when you consider that India has almost 1.2 billion people versus about 310 million in the U.S. The 2010 GDP on a purchasing power parity was put at about $4.06 trillion and that comes to only about $3,500 in GDP per capita.

$35 billion matters, even if it is going to take more to jumpstart the economy after months and months of tightening and restive monetary measures as the nation fought inflation at the expense of growth.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: ADR, Economy, Emerging Markets, ETF, Infrastructure, International Markets, Mutual Funds Tagged: EPI, IBN, IFN, IIF, INFY, PIN, SLT, TTM

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (APOL, ASML, AN, BAC, CHH, GLF, HSNI, IBN, INTC, M, MMI, NFLX, OSG, RSG, R, SM, SBUX, TDW, DIS, XRX)

Administrator — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:11:45 +0000

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

Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) Reiterated Buy and raised price target to $63 from $55 at Argus.
ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ: ASML) Raised target at Credit Suisse.
AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN) Started as Neutral at Stern Agee.
Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) Cut to Underperform from Neutral at Zacks (late Monday call).
Choice Hotels (NYSE: CHH) Cut to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Gulfmark Offshore, Inc. (NYSE: GLF) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
HSN, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSNI) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
ICICI Bank Ltd. (NYSE: IBN) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) maintained as the top tech/semi pick for 2012 from Credit Suisse.
Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $36 from $32 at Credit Suisse.
Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (NYSE: MMI) Maintained Sell at Argus.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Cut to Underperform from Neutral at BofA/ML.
Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. (NYSE: OSG) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE: RSG) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE: R) named as value stock of the day at Zacks.
SM Energy Co. (NYSE: SM) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Reiterated Buy and raised estimates at Argus.
Tidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) Cut to Equal-weight at Barclays.
Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) Cut to Equal-weight at Barclays.

If you enjoyed the Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades, you can sign up in the box below to join our morning email list to receive news directly in your inbox each morning. We also include major IPO’s and M&A, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AN, APOL, ASML, BAC, CHH, DIS, GLF, HSNI, IBN, INTC, M, MMI, NFLX, OSG, R, RSG, SBUX, SM, TDW, XRX

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AEG, AA, AGU, RDEA, CTL, CERN, COP, CNX, DMND, FCX, GOOG, IBN, JPM, NEM, BTU, SWC, STM, RIG, VICL)

Administrator — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:33:46 +0000

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

AEGON N.V. (NYSE: AEG) maintained “Buy” but removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) Started as Outperform with $20 target at Credit Suisse.
Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) Reiterated Buy as Value at Zacks.
Ardea Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: RDEA) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ: CERN) Added to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) Reiterated Buy at Argus.
CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) Started as Outperform with $62 target at Credit Suisse.
Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) Started as Buy at BofA/ML; Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Reinstated as Buy at Needham; Reiterated Buy with $800 target at Canaccord Genuity.
ICICI Bank Ltd. (NYSE: IBN) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) Reiterated Hold at Argus.
Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) Started as Neutral with $65 target at Credit Suisse.
Peabody Energy Corp (NYSE: BTU) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Stillwater Mining Company (NYSE: SWC) Started as Outperform with $24 target on Focus List at Credit Suisse.
STMicroelectronics NV (NYSE: STM) Cut to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Vical Inc. (NASDAQ: VICL) Reiterated Buy with $8 target at Canaccord Genuity.

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: AA, AEG, AGU, BTU, CERN, CNX, COP, CTL, DMND, FCX, GOOG, IBN, JPM, NEM, RDEA, RIG, STM, SWC, VICL

India Election Winners By ETF & Shares (PIN, EPI, IIF, IFN, INP, INFY, IBN, REDF, SAY, SLT, TTM, WIT)

247wallst — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:19:05 +0000

It is rare that you see an election have this large of an impact, but the Indian stock market surged on the new election results. The Congress Party won a decisive victory in India and this sent Indian stocks up 17% on average. The move was so large that the Bombay Stock Exchange had to close after already seeing one halt. This had a huge impact on stocks, which you can see reflected in the share prices in the high pre-market indications of the major ETF’s, closed-end funds, and active ADR’s listed below.

ETF’s and closed end fund gainers representing India are as follows:

PowerShares India (NYSE: PIN) up 15% at $17.00 at 9:07
WisdomTree India Earnings (NYSE: EPI) up 23% at $17.20 at 9:07
Morgan Stanley India Investment Fund, Inc. (NYSE: IIF) up 17% at $18.85 at 9:07
India Fund, Inc. (NYSE: IFN) up 20% at $25.93 at 9:07
iPath MSCI India Index ETN (NYSE: INP) up 23% at $48.75 at 9:08

The key Indian ADR shares are as follows:

Infosys Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: INFY) up 13% at $36.35 at 9:09
ICICI Bank (NYSE: IBN) up 31% at $23.39 at 9:09
Rediff.com India Ltd. (NASDAQ: REDF) up 32% at $3.30 at 9:09
Satyam Computer Services (NYSE: SAY) up 13% at $2.05 at 9:09
Sterlite Industries (NYSE: SLT) up 19% at $10.98 at 9:10
Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM) up 13% at $8.59 at 9:10
Wipro Ltd. (NYSE: WIT) up 9% at $11.65 at 9:10

This election is expected to allow the government to have a greater degree of flexibility to boost economic reform and growth. The prior communist parties had not been favorable for issues such as insurance, privatizations, and pensions.

JON C. OGG

Posted in ADR, Emerging Markets, ETF, Index, Mutual Funds, Politics, Trading Alert Tagged: EPI, IBN, IFN, IIF, INFY, INP, PIN, REDF, SAY SLT, TTM, WIT

Indian ADR’s Unphased By Terror Attacks (INFY, IBN, REDF, SAY, SLT, TTM, WIT)

247wallst — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:17:19 +0000

Fresh attacks that appear to be targeted against foreigners in Mumbai, India have failed to thwart a market rally today even in Indian stocks. Reports have foreigners being taken hostage at premiere hotels frequented by the wealthy and by business travelers and some 60 deaths have been reported. Interestingly enough, this has also failed to take out the wind of the Indian ETF’s and Indian ADR’s which are actively traded here in the US. Stock Moves in ADR’s:

Infosys Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: INFY) up 6.3% at $24.61
ICICI Bank (NYSE: IBN) down 2.7% at $13.26 (had been up before)
Rediff.com India Ltd. (NASDAQ: REDF) up 5.6% at $2.06
Satyam Computer Services (NYSE: SAY) up over 3% at $12.78
Sterlite Industries (NYSE: SLT) up 7% at $4.80
Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM) down 2.3% at $4.59 (was down most of day)
Wipro Ltd. (NYSE: WIT) up 4.3% at $7.48

We also added in an after-report list to the ETF’s and closed-end funds we track to show a broad interest as well.

Jon C. Ogg
November 26, 2008

Posted in ADR, Emerging Markets Tagged: IBN, INFY, REDF, SAY, SLT, TTM, WIT

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (ABT, MO, AMGN, CRME, FNM, FRE, IBN, PNRA, SNDK, ZMH)

247wallst — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 06:28:05 +0000

These are the top analyst calls we are focusing on early this Thursday morning in pre-market trading:

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) Raised To Outperform at Wachovia.
Altria (NYSE: MO) started as Buy at UBS.
Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) downgraded to Market Perform at Wachovia.
Cardiome Pharma (NASDAQ: CRME) started At Outperform at Wachovia.
Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) raised to Outperform at KBW.
Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) raised to Outperform at KBW.
ICICI Bank (NYSE: IBN) downgraded to Underperform at Jefferies.
Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA) downgraded to Neutral at JP Morgan.
SanDisk NASDAQ: SNDK) downgraded to Neutral at JP Morgan.
Zimmer Holdings (NYSE: ZMH) raised to Overweight at Lehman Brothers.

Jon C. Ogg
March 20, 2008

ETF Launch: PowerShares India Portfolio (PIN, INFY, IBN, SAY, SLT, TTM, WIT)

247wallst — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:58:46 +0000

We have now seen two Indian stock ETF’s successfully launch in the last few weeks. This morning there was another ETF launch on NYSE, although you can see the February news release with the full details. The PowerShares India Portfolio Fund Exchange Traded Fund listed under the ticker symbol "PIN" and began trading on NYSE Arca today. This ETF is based on the Indus India Index and tracks the performance of the Indian equity markets as a whole with representation across the consumer products, information technology, health sciences, financial services, and heavy industry sectors.

According to the press release at NYSE, the following NYSE listed ADR shares are a part of the index currently included in the Indus India Index:

Infosys Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: INFY), ICICI Bank (NYSE: IBN) Satyam Computer Services (NYSE: SAY), Sterlite Industries (NYSE: SLT), Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM), Wipro Ltd. (NYSE: WIT)

As a reminder, because of percentage foreign ownership limitation rules and because of ADR conversions, many US-traded ADR’s actually trade at premiums to shares traded locally in India. WisdomTree also recently launched an ETF that tracks Indians stocks at the local exchange level.

Jon C. Ogg
March 5, 2008

Financial Market Reactions On Bhutto Assassination (INP, IFN, IIF, MINDX, IBN, TTM)

247wallst — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 12:08:50 +0000

It is unfortunate to have to analyze tragic international or domestic terrorism news from a financial angle on horrible news such as the murder of a foreign leader or a challenger for that leadership ahead of an election. Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide attack at a campaign rally that also killed killed more 20 others (reports still vary). The news of her death was reported after the Pakistan markets were closed.

Investors are looking to see how far down the Karachi Stock Exchange will drop and one of the best proxies as to see how this will affect the Pakistani stocks is to look at the closest markets. India is the closest and most tied (good and bad) to Pakistan, and the worries that this could create additional instability in the region has the ETF and the Indian funds that trade in the U.S. down considerably:

The major ETF that tracks India is the iPath MSCI India Index ETN (NYSE: INP), and it is trading down some 5% at $96.10 today. Its 52-week trading range is $46.13 to $110.09.
There are two closed-end funds that track the performance of Indian stocks. India Fund, Inc. (NYSE: IFN) is also down some 5.1% at $59.40 today, and its 52-week trading range is $35.51 to $71.54. The second is less actively traded, but the Morgan Stanley India Investment Fund, Inc. (NYSE: IIF) is down some 6% at $50.75, and its 52-week trading range is $38.29 to $66.56.
One open-ended mutual fund that we will not know how that trades really until tomorrow after we have a chance to see how those trade is the Matthews India Fund (MINDX). These only trade at N.A.V. at the end of each day and these traded at $24.29 yesterday. This fund started out 2007 at $15.62, so it is also up considerably.
A couple of the more liquid stocks that trade as ADR’s in the U.S. are ICICI Bank Ltd. (NYSE: IBN) and Tata Motors Ltd. (NYSE: TTM), and both are down close to 5% today.

This is potentially a very large political and geopolitical event that could end up with much greater repercussions than a mere 3%or 5% move. The hardest part of interpreting these price reactions is that Wall Street is staffed with a skeleton crew this week and part of next week. These are the go to stock and fund names to track the financial market reactions to the situation.

Jon C. Ogg
December 27, 2007