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Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ADP, CHK, SCHW, GLW, ETFC, GD, GE, GMCR, NRGM, ITW, LRCX, LIFE, NFLX, NVDA, RYAAY, VALE)

Administrator — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:04:39 +0000

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

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NYSE: ADP) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup; Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Reiterated Buy with $22 Target at Argus.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) Started as Perform at Williams Capital.
Inergy Midstream, L.P. (NYSE: NRGM) Started as Outperform with $26 target at Credit Suisse.
Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ: LRCX) Maintained Outperform with $56 target price at Credit Suisse.
Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) Raised To Outperform From Market Perform By Leerink Swann
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Raised to Buy at Citigroup; Maintained Outperform and raised target to $125 at Credit Suisse.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) Raised to Positive at Susquehanna.
Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ: RYAAY) Cut to Neutral at Nomura.
Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

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: ADP,, CHK, ETFC, GD, GE, GLW, GMCR, ITW, LIFE, LRCX, NFLX, NRGM, NVDA, RYAAY, SCHW, VALE

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AGCO, APOL, BSX, CECO, DNDN, FDX, GS, HUN, ITW, INTC, KSS, SNDK, AMTD, TRV, UPS, URBN, VOD, HOGS)

Administrator — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:19:44 +0000

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

AGCO Corporation (NYSE: AGCO) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) Reiterated Outperform and Raised Target to $60 at Credit Suisse.
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) Maintained Hold but lowered estimates at Argus.
Career Education Corporation (NASDAQ: CECO) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) Reiterated Neutral with $10 target at Baird.
FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) Cut to Market Perform by Wells Fargo.
Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN) named as Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.
Illinois Tool Works. Inc. (NYSE: ITW) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Cut to Neutral at Stern Agee.
Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE: KSS) Cut to Hold at Argus.
SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) Raised to Buy at Stern Agee.
TD AMERITRADE Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Started as Underperform and named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Vodafone Group PLC (NYSE: VOD) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Zhongpin, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOGS) Started as outperform at Oppenheimer.

If you enjoyed this morning’s Wall Street research notes, you can sign up to receive these directly in your inbox each morning by joining our free email list in the box below. We also include major movers, key stock calls, news on Warren Buffett and other gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AGCO, AMTD, APOL, BSX, CECO, DNDN, FDX, GS, HOGS, HUN, INTC, ITW, KSS, SNDK, TRV, UPS, URBN, VOD

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (AET, AIXG, CTSH, FFIV, GDOT, HFC, ITW, IBM, LXK, MWV, NTAP, OPTR, ORCL, PIR, TYC, UA, UIS, V, VMW, GWW)

Administrator — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:18:37 +0000

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

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) Reiterated Buy with $51 target at Argus.
Aixtron SE (NASDAQ: AIXG) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ: CTSH) Removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Green Dot Corporation (NYSE: GDOT) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
HollyFrontier Corporation (NYSE: HFC) Reiterated Buy as Value at Zacks.
Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Lexmark International Inc. (NYSE: LXK) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
MeadWestvaco Corporation (NYSE: MWV) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Optimer Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OPTR) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Raised to Top Pick at FBR.
Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (NYSE: PIR) Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
W.W. Grainger Inc. (NYSE: GWW) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

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: Annual Report Tagged: AET, AIXG, CTSH, FFIV, GDOT, GWW, HFC, IBM, ITW, LXK, MWV, NTAP, OPTR, ORCL, PIR, TYC, UA, UIS, V, VMW

Searching for Value in the Cyclical Machinery & Equipment Sector (ATU, AVY, DOV, ETN, ITT, ITW, PH)

Administrator — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:36:13 +0000

Machinery stocks rank very high as far as “cyclicality”…. If there is a sector that is dependent upon the broad economy and global growth it is the machinery sector. Machinery also includes many related sectors in tools and services as well. After we began dissecting this sector it turns out that there is some rather attractive value for investors who are not so sensitive to the broader dips and pops of the markets on a weekly basis. Value investors often do not know when their shares will eventually move up but they are getting to get into the shares at levels that offer attractive entry points for the long-term.

After going through our screening process, we identified shares of the following tooling and machinery companies as offering value: Actuant Corporation (NYSE: ATU); Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE: AVY); Dover Corp. (NYSE: DOV); Eaton Corporation (NYSE: ETN); ITT Corporation (NYSE: ITT); Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW); and Parker Hannifin Corporation (NYSE: PH).

All of these companies sport attractive valuations in a fairly narrow range. Avery Dennison posts the best forward PE multiple with 10.9. Actuant Corporation posts the highest forward PE with a 14.1 multiple. Every one of these companies boasts an attractive return on equity (ROE) exceeding 14.5%. Avery Dennison, Illinois Tool Works and Parker Hannifin all boast a ROE higher than 19%. Analysts’ estimates for next-year earnings growth range from ITT’s 8% to Actuant’s 19.6%.

Market caps among these companies range from Actuant Corporation’s $1.9 billion to Illinois Tool Works’ $29.5 billion. Price to book ratios range from Actuant’s low of 2.15 to Illinois Tool Works’ high of 2.85. Most of these have above average upside to their consensus price targets from analysts and most are off from recent highs by more than the broader market. Except where otherwise noted our source for all financial and performance data is Finviz.

Actuant Corporation (NYSE: ATU) posts a forward PE of just under 14 and its market cap is rather small for this group at about $1.8 billion. Even at this relatively modest level, this is the richest price to earnings multiple among these companies. Actuant posts a price to book ratio of 2.15 to 1, best among these companies. Analysts estimate next-year earnings growth at 19.6%, best of this lot. With a consensus target price of $32.00 the shares have an implied upside of 18%. Actuant’s shares recently traded at $27.00. The 52-week price range is $17.71 to $30.41. This one has also paid an annual dividend of $0.04 for several years in a row and that 0.1% yield is so much lower than the rest of this group that you have to wonder if a dividend policy adjustment is necessary. Shares peaked just over $35 at the peak before the recession took hold.

Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE: AVY) boasts a forward PE of 10.9 and a return on equity (ROE) of 19.69%. Both of these figures are first place numbers among these companies. Analysts estimate next-year earnings growth at 19.3%, second highest among this lot. With a consensus target price of $46.71 the shares have an implied upside of 20%. Avery Dennison’s shares recently traded at $38.70 and the 52-week price range is $30.92 to $43.26. This one is diversified and some of its operations might be considered more office products than the rest of its operations. The $4 billion company in market cap offers a dividend yield of 2.6%. More important than its 52-week range is that this one peaked around $70 back in 2000 and then again back before the great recession.

Dover Corp. (NYSE: DOV) has a 13.8 forward price to earnings multiple, second richest of this lot. Analysts estimate next-year earnings growth at 14.3%, lowest of these companies. With a consensus target price of $74.67 the shares have an implied upside of roughly 8.2%, the smallest upside among these companies. Dover’s shares recently traded at $68.20 and the 52-week price range is $41.41 to $70.15. Dover specializes in industrial products and components and it offers a lower dividend for this group of about 1.6%. Unlike some others in this group, its shares have recently hit all-time highs and this one is down only about 4% from highs.

Eaton Corporation (NYSE: ETN) posts a forward PE of 11.3, second best among these companies. The company’s $18 billion market cap makes it second largest in this lot. Analysts estimate next-year earnings growth at 18.6%. With a consensus target price of $60.70 the shares have an implied upside greater than 16%. Eaton’s shares recently traded at $51.70 and the 52-week price range is $31.87 to $56.12. Eaton is involved in power management and it makes electrical components and systems, as well as components and systems in hydraulics, aerospace, and more. The company also sports a common stock dividend of roughly 2.6%.

ITT Corporation (NYSE: ITT): Analysts estimate next-year earnings growth at less than 8%, ranking it seventh of these seven companies. With a consensus target price of $64.62 the shares have an implied upside of almost 10%. ITT’s shares recently traded at $58.50. The 52-week price range is $41.46 to $63.44. ITT is worth $10 billion in market capitalization and pays a dividend of about 1.7% to investors. ITT is almost a conglomerate as far as how many segments it services in equipment, tools, and machinery for water, transportation, defense, and more. This one traded at nearly $70 per share at the peak before the recession.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) posts a $29.5 billion market cap, largest of these companies. The company posts one of the better ROE numbers with a return on equity of 19.4%. With a consensus target price of $67.36 the shares have an implied upside greater than 15%. The company’s shares recently traded at $58.20. The 52-week price range is $39.29 to $59.27. ITW pays investors a dividend of roughly 2.3%. This one is very cyclical as it is involved in industrial products and equipment in a myriad of areas.

Parker Hannifin Corporation (NYSE: PH) posts one of the better ROE numbers with a return on equity of 19.4%. The shares’ consensus target price of $107.46 imply an upside of almost 21%, best of this lot. Parker Hannifin’s shares recently traded at $87.75 and the 52-week price range is $54.79 to $98.99. The maker of fluid power systems and electromechanical controls and components seems to have lost favor of late with analysts. If it lives up to its 10% earnings growth for fiscal 2012 (June-end), then it trades at only 11.7-times forward earnings. It has a dividend yield of about 1.7%.

Using the term “value” certainly does not imply a search for immediate gains and many cheap stocks often get cheaper until a catalyst arises. This group of value stocks is also not really anywhere close to 52-week lows, which is often a break-down feature that certain value fund managers use in screening value candidates from time to time for bargain bin prices of beaten up stocks.

Jon Ogg and Jim Berdou

Filed under: Industry, Infrastructure, Value Investing Tagged: ATU, AVY, DOV, ETN, ITT, ITW, PH

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ALKS, AEO, ADM, BHP, CSCO, DOW, GBL, ITW, JNY, MRK, PHG, DGX, RGS, RIO, SKS, TSN, VIA-B)

Administrator — Tue, 10 May 2011 12:30:59 +0000

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

Alkermes, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALKS) Raised to Outperform at Leerink Swann.
American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE: AEO) Cut to Neutral at Janney.
Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) Started as Buy at RBS.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Started as Buy at boutique firm BGC Financial.
The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) Maintained Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
GAMCO Investors, Inc. (NYSE: GBL) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
The Jones Group Inc. (NYSE: JNY) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) Reiterated Buy and $41 target at Argus.
Philips Electronics NV (NYSE: PHG) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Quest Diagnostics, Inc. (NYSE: DGX) reiterated Outperform but on Focus List at Credit Suisse.
Regis Corporation (NYSE: RGS) Kept at Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Rio Tinto plc (NYSE: RIO) Started as Buy at RBS.
Saks Incorporated (NYSE: SKS) Raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Viacom, Inc. (NYSE: VIA-B) Raised to Buy at Argus.

You can 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: ADM, AEO, ALKS, BHP, CSCO, DGX, DOW, GBL, ITW, JNY, MRK, PHG, RGS, RIO, SKS, TSN, VIA-B

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (CSCO, CRXL, ITW, LVS, NFLX, POT, PT, SUPM, WRI, XEL)

Administrator — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:07:26 +0000

These are some of this Wednesday’s top analyst calls with upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research firms:

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Cut to Underperform at First Global.
Crucell NV (NASDAQ: CRXL) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) Target Raised to $22 at Citigroup.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Cut to Underperform at Morgan Keegan.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) Target raised to $170 at UBS; Traget Raised to $160 at CIBC; Credit Suisse raised Target to $150.
Portugal Telecom SA (NYSE: PT) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
SuperMedia (NASDAQ: SUPM) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Weingarten Realty Investors Company (NYSE: WRI) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.

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

JON C. OGG

Filed under: General Tagged: CRXL, CSCO, ITW, LVS, NFLX, POT, PT, SUPM, WRI, XEL

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades, Initiations (DVN, XOM, HES, ITW, LEA, NFLX, PALM, PARD, SPWRA, VRTX)

247wallst — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:01:51 +0000

These are this morning’s top ten analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls:

Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Started as Buy at Collins Stewart.
Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) Raised to Buy at Kaufman.
Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: PARD) Cut to Market Perform at Rodman & Renshaw.
Sunpower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray; Cut to Market Perform at FBR Capital Markets.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) Cut to Neutral at Merriman Curhan Ford.

You can join our open email distribution list to hear more news on key analyst calls, top day trader alerts, Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, mergers and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Pre-Market Activity, Trading Alert Tagged: DVN, HES, ITW, LEA, NFLX, PALM, PARD, SPWRA, VRTX, XOM

Top Analyst Calls (BT, CSCO, EMC, HAS, ITW, MAT, NTAP, OMC, TEN, VECO)

247wallst — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:25:39 +0000

These are some of the top pre-market analyst upgrades and positive research calls we have seen from Wall Street with more than two hours until the market opens:

BT Group (BT) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) Started at Canaccord.
EMC Corp. (EMC) Started at Canaccord.
Hasbro (HAS) Started as Buy at KeyBanc.
Illinois Tool Works (ITW) Raised to Outperform at William Blair.
Mattel (MAT) Started as Buy at KeyBanc.
NetApp (NTAP) Started as Buy at Canaccord.
Omnicom (OMC) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Tenneco (TEN) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Veeco Instruments (VECO) Started as Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: BT, CSCO, EMC, HAS, ITW, MAT, NTAP, OMC, TEN, VECO

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ABC, BWA, DRYS, FIS, ITW, JPM, MHP, NOK, SOHU, ZUMZ)

247wallst — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:48:38 +0000

There are not so many brokerage calls this morning for it being earnings season, but these are the top 10 analyst calls of upgrades and downgrades from Wall Street we have seen early this Friday morning:

AmerisourceBergen (ABC) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Borg Warner (BWA) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
DryShips (DRYS) Raised to Outperfom at Oppenheimer.
Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) Raised to Outperfom at Oppenheimer.
Illinois Tool (ITW) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Cut to In-Line at Foxx-Pitt.
McGraw-Hill (MHP) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Nokia (NOK) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Sohu.com (SOHU) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.
Zumiez (ZUMZ) Raised to Buy at KeyBanc.

Jon C. Ogg

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: ABC, BWA, DRYS, FIS, ITW, JPM, MHP, NOK, SOHU, ZUMZ

Tuesday’s Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (BJ, GLW, DRI, DTSI, ITW, RBS, VIA, BHP, COF, FITB, MAT, STO)

247wallst — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:29:26 +0000

These are some of Tuesday morning’s top pre-market upgrades and downgrades we have seen from Wall Street analysts with more than two hours until the open:

BJ’s Wholesale (NYSE: BJ) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Corning (NYSE: GLW) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Darden restaurants (NYSE: DRI) Started as Outperform at Baird.
Digital Theater Systems (NASDAQ: DTSI) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Illinois Toolworks (NYSE: ITW) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) Raised to Overweight at HSBC.
Viacom (NYSE: VIA) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) Cut to Hold at ABN AMRO.
Capital One (NYSE: COF) Target cut by more than half to $18 at Goldman Sachs.
Fifth Third (NASDAQ: FITB) Target cut 75% down to $2.00 at Goldman Sachs.
Mattel (NYSE: MAT) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
StatoilHydro (NYSE: STO) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.

Jon C. Ogg
February 3, 2009

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: BHP, BJ, COF, DRI, DTSI, FITB, GLW, ITW, MAT, RBS, STO, VIA