24/7 Wall St. » ITW

After the Sell-Off: Value & Upside In Major Industrials (APD, BA, CAT, DE, DOW, DD, DHR, ITW)

Administrator — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:25:39 +0000

Summer can often be an interesting time in the markets and so far the “Sell in May and go away!” them has worked. What has also taken place is that many of these stocks have sold off to levels where they are either well off their highs or to where these offer value and upside to the consensus price targets. We have covered this in gold miners and in major oil outfits, but we are taking a look at the value and upside in many of the key industrial names which are key drivers and barometers of the U.S. economy.

24/7 Wall St. has gone through the industrial products, chemicals, and heavy equipment makers to see which outfits offer investors the least risk and most reward. Consensus targets are from Thomson Reuters and we have evaluated the following: Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD); The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA); Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT); Deere & Company (NYSE: DE); The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW); E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE: DD); Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR); and Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW).

Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) traded at $79.50 with a market value of $16.8 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $98.75 and the 52-week trading range is $72.26 to $98.00. Air Products’ most recent yield was listed as 3.2%. The implied upside to the consensus target is 24% but we would note that the consensus target is still above the 52-week high.

The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) traded at $71.05 with a market value of $53.2 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $86.08 and the 52-week trading range is $56.01 to $78.35. This DJIA component’s most recent yield was listed as about 2.5%. The implied upside to the consensus target is 21% but we would note that the consensus target is almost $8.00 higher than the 52-week high and you have to go back to before the recession to find Boeing shares that high.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) traded at $91.25 with a market value of $59.5 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $130.95 and the 52-week trading range is $67.54 to $116.95. Caterpillar’s most recent yield was listed as 2.0%. The implied upside to the consensus target is 44% but we would note that the consensus target is almost 10% above the 52-week high.

Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) traded at $74.50 with a market value of $30 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $92.79 and the 52-week trading range is $59.92 to $89.70. Deere’s most recent yield was listed as 2.4%. The implied upside to the consensus target is about 25% but we would note that the consensus target is about $3.00 higher than the 52-week high.

The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) traded at $30.00 with a market value of $35.9 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $37.23 and the 52-week trading range is $20.61 to $37.30. Dow’s most recent yield was listed as a very high 4.2%. The implied upside to the consensus target is 24% but we would note that the consensus effectively is the same as the 52-week high.

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE: DD) traded at $48.40 with a market value of $45.3 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $58.33 and the 52-week trading range is $37.10 to $56.20. DuPont’s yield was listed as about 3.5%. The implied upside to the consensus target is 20% and that target is about $2.00 above the 52-week high.

Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR) traded at $51.85 with a market value of $35.9 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $60.95 and the 52-week trading range is $39.34 to $56.45. Danaher’s most recent yield was tiny at only 0.2%. The implied upside to the consensus target is only about 17% and it is worth noting that the analyst consensus target is more than $4.00 above the 52-week high.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) traded at $54.40 with a market value of $26 billion. The consensus target price from Thomson Reuters is $61.53 and the 52-week trading range is $39.12 to $59.27. ITW’s most recent yield was listed as 2.6%. The implied upside to the consensus target is only about 13%, making this the least ‘implied upside’ winner of the lot. This one is also only down about 8% from its most recent high as well.

You can see that there is a very mixed bag here. The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) leads in the dividend department with a 4.2% yield. Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) is the leader with ‘implied analyst upside’ of 44% but it seems a stretch in the upside if you look at where the stock has been and how volatile the stock has been. Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) has the least amount of ‘implied analyst upside’ but it has also held up among the best during the market sell-off.

Gold & Silver Miners With Most Upside & Value

Major Oil Companies WIth Most Upside & Value

Conglomerates With Most Upside & Value

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Dividend, Economy, Industry, Infrastructure, Value Investing Tagged: APD, BA, CAT, DD, DE, DHR, DOW, ITW

Eaton Goes Big (ETN, CBE, ITW, JCI, PH)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:59:58 +0000

Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN), a diversified industrial company that is best known for its power management equipment, has announced that it is acquiring Ireland-based Cooper Industries (NYSE: CBE) for a total of about $11.8 billion in cash and stock. Cooper shareholders will receive total compensation of $72/share, of which $39.15 is cash and the remainder is 0.77479 shares of Eaton stock for each share of Cooper stock. The purchase price represents a premium of 29% to Friday’s closing price of Cooper shares, and is above Cooper’s 52-week high.

The acquisition will result in the formation of a new company to be called (something like) Eaton Global Corp. plc and will be based in Ireland. Alexander Cutler, Eaton’s current CEO and Chairman, will head the new company. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2012, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals.

Current Eaton shareholders will receive one share of the new company’s stock for every share of Eaton they now own. When the deal is completed, Eaton’s current shareholders will own about 73% of the new company. The stock is expected to continue trading on the NYSE under the ‘ETN’ stock symbol.

The combined company will have a market cap of around $25 billion, about the same size as Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) and slightly larger than Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI). Another electrical equipment maker, Parker Hannifin Corp. (NYSE: PH), is about half the size of the combined Eaton-Cooper entity.

Shares of Cooper are up 25% in the first half-hour of trading this morning, at $69.80 in a 52-week range of $41.15-$71.37. Eaton stock is down about -0.6% at $42.13 in a 52-week range of $33.09-$53.23.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Mergers and Buy Outs Tagged: CBE, ETN, ITW, JCI, PH

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (AAPL, T, XRX, GE, LNKD, BIG, AZO, APD, BHI, COH, ITW, MHP, RSH, RF, HSY, NFLX, IBM, NAT, EGLE)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:11:08 +0000

Markets opened mixed this morning, with the DJIA showing much more strength than the S&P 500, which opened higher, or the Nasdaq, which opened lower. The S&P Case-Shiller house price index showed another decline in home prices (our coverage here), although new home sales rose slightly. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index was lower this month as well (our coverage here). Tech stocks have been weak all day as sentiment about the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) earnings report faltered following comments from AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) related to iPhone connections (our coverage here). The US dollar index fell today, now down -0.25% at 79.220. The GSCI commodity index is down -0.28% at 675.82, with commodities mostly rising on the weaker dollar. WTI crude oil closed up 0.4% at $103.55/barrel, and Brent crude trades down -0.48% at $118.14/barrel. Gold settled up 0.7% today, at $1,643.80/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 74 points to 13,001.56 (0.58%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 9 points (-0.30%) to 2,961.60, and the S&P 500 rose 0.37% or about 5 points to 1,371.97.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) reiterated ‘buy’ with a target price of $13 at Argus; General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) reiterated ‘buy’ with a target price of $22 at Argus; LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) started as ‘overweight’ at Piper Jaffray; Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) cut to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank; and AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) raised to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: AT&T is up 3.9% at $31.81; Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) is down -4.3% at $84.91; Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) is up 5.3% at $43.23 (more coverage here); Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) is down -4% at $72.10 (more coverage here); Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) is up 2.7% at $56.71; McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. (NYSE: MHP) is down -3% at $47.65; RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) is down -10.3% at $5.36 after posting a new 52-week intraday low of $5.27; Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) is up 5.4% at $6.42; The Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) is up 5.7% at $65.86 after posting a new 52-week intraday high of $66.94; and Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is down -14.6% at $87.01.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is up .0.8% at $200.24. The tech giant raised its dividend today. More coverage here.

North American Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: NAT) is up 1.5% at $14.01. Shipping rates for dry bulk shippers are rising and tanker rates, especially for the smaller (1 million barrels) crude carriers of the Suezmax class. Many other shippers are also getting a boost today, including Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (NASDAQ: EGLE), which is up 6.8% at $1.88.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee wraps up its two-day meeting and Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a press conference this afternoon. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
8:30 a.m. – Durable goods orders
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
11:30 a.m. – 5-yr note auction
2:00 p.m. – FOMC forecasts

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AAPL, APD, AZO, BHI, BIG, COH, EGLE, GE, HSY, IBM, ITW, LNKD, MHP, NAT, NFLX, RF, RSH, T, XRX

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.

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JON C. OGG

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