24/7 Wall St. » ORLY

Is Buyout of Pep Boys Going Bad? (PBY, AZO, ORLY)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 01 May 2012 18:19:39 +0000

On April 26th, Gores Group LLC asked Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack (NYSE: PBY) to delay a special shareholders meeting by 30 days in order to give the private equity firm time to figure out what has caused the auto parts dealer to turn in such awful numbers for the first quarter. Gores had likely seen the writing on the wall that Pep Boys revealed to the rest of us today.

In a preliminary report on first quarter results, Pep Boys projected revenues of $524-$526 million, sharply lower than the consensus estimate of $558.3 million and EPS in the range of flat to $0.04. In the same period a year ago, Pep Boys showed revenue of $5.135 million and EPS of $0.23. The company had only this to say this morning: “[F]irst quarter results were below expectations due to a variety of factors occurring in the ordinary course of business.”

Competitors Autozone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) and O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) had no such “factor” to report during the first quarter as both handily beat expectations. So what’s up with Pep Boys and the Gores takeover at $15/share?

One analyst told Bloomberg News that Gores was aware of the possible downturn in Pep Boys’ business in January when the acquisition was being discussed:

There is no way [Gores] can pretend that this wasn’t what was represented by management. They will have a tough time getting out of the deal because “they already revised the offer because of recent performance,” [the analyst] said.

But if Gores really has cold feet about the deal and can wangle a way out of it, even temporarily, Pep Boys’ shareholders may not like the results.

Shares of Pep Boys are down about -24% at $11.35 in mid-afternoon today, within a 52-week range of $8.18-$15.46.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Autos, Earnings, Mergers and Buy Outs Tagged: AZO, featured, ORLY, PBY

Gores Group Acquires Pep Boys (PBY, AZO, AAP, ORLY)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:29:55 +0000

Auto parts retailer The Pep Boys – Manny, Joe & Jack (NYSE: PBY) has agreed to be acquired by private equity firm The Gores Group for $1 billion cash, or $15/share. The price is a 24% premium over the closing price of the shares last Friday.

Pep Boys has been the weakest performer in the auto parts retail business for the past year. It’s share price has fallen by more than -13% in the past 12 months, while competitors Autozone Inc. (NYSE: AZO), Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP), and O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) have risen by 38%, 17%, and 46%, respectively.

Under terms of the agreement, Pep Boys has a 45-day period in which it is free to seek other offers. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

Pep Boys has suspended its quarterly dividend and will file a quarterly report with the SEC, but has cancelled its conference call.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Mergers and Buy Outs, Private Equity Tagged: AAP, AZO, ORLY, PBY

Over 10 Big Stocks Hitting New All-Time Highs (AAPL, DLTR, ECL, MCD, MNST, NKE, PNRA, SBUX, AAP, AZO, ORLY)

Administrator — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:52:12 +0000

The logic from technical traders is simple: “Stocks hitting new highs tend to keep hitting new highs.” Eventually that comes to an end, sometimes a painful end. Until that end arrives it sure gives the bulls a lot to cheer about. When these are big companies of $10 billion and more hitting all-time highs, the bulls get even more excited. Here are just some of the all-time highs which have been seen today:

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) hit a new high this morning ahead of next week’s earnings. The new value is almost at $400 billion. The new high is $428.50 for now and the consensus price target from Thomson Reuters is now above $509.00.

Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) is continuing with the trade-down economy and the secular growth of the dollar store (actually sub-$10) stores. The new high is $85.58 and the consensus price target is $86.27 from Thomson Reuters. Dollar Tree is now worth more than $10 billion in market capitalization.

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) is worth almost $14 billion now, and the new high today of $60.45 compares to a Thomson Reuters consensus price target of $61.56.

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) gave solid same-store sales forecast and recently juiced up its dividend. The new high is $101.87 and the market cap is nearing $104 billion.

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ: MNST) recently announced a stock split and shares hit a new high this morning but have promptly backed off by close to 2%. The new high is $101.67 and the consensus analyst target is close to $105.00. It is hard to imagine, but Monster now has a market value of almost $8.7 billion.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) keeps doing it. A new high of $100.75 was put in today after a prior 52-week high of $99.44. Its market value now eclipses $46 billion.

Panera Bread Company (NASDAQ: PNRA) is up at stratosphere levels now for its healthier sandwich and destination approach. The new high is $151.93 and the consensus price target from Thomson Reuters is $146.68. Its market cap is now almost $4.5 billion.

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) has proven us very wrong on how high the valuation can go back up to. The new high is $48.15 and the consensus price target from Thomson Reuters is just under $48.00 and the market cap is now more than $35 billion.

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP) worth over $5 billion, AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO) worth over $13 billion, and O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) worth over $10 billion… These all hit record high prices in their stocks on Wednesday. With a record age car fleet in America of more than 10 years, car parts stores and suppliers sure are going to have a lot of car owners to sell parts to that are long past the warranty and insurance coverage.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: HI/LOW, Technical Analysis, Trading Alert Tagged: AAP, AAPL, AZO, DLTR, ECL, MCD, MNST, NKE, ORLY, PNRA, SBUX

Value Choices in the Auto Industry (GM, F, HTZ, CAR, ZIP, AN, KMX, CRMT, ORLY, AZO, PBY)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:42:25 +0000

The month of December was the leading month for new car sales in the US in 2010. It was the second leading month in 2009, and the pattern could continue this year as pent-up demand from buyers boosts sales. Investors, though, have picked a favorite in the industy, and it’s not the automakers themselves. Both General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) and Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) have seen share prices deteriorate in the past month, as have car rental firms Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ), Avis Budget Group Inc. (NYSE: CAR), and Zipcar Inc. (NASDAQ: ZIP). Dealers like AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE: AN), CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX), and America’s Car-Mart, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMT) have risen the most, and parts stores like O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY), AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO), and Pep Boys – Manny, Joe, and Jack (NYSE: PBY) are mixed. There ought to be an opportunity here.

GM and Ford have both had median target prices lowered in the past month, and GM stock is trading down more than -7% today compared to its price on November 9th. GM’s median target price is now $33.00, and at today’s price of $21.28, the potential upside is 55%. Ford’s median target price is $15.00, and at today’s price of $11.04, its implied gain is nearly 36%. Battery fires in the Chevy Volt have weighed on GM shares, and Ford is being weighed down by uncertainty about a successor to its current CEO. Ford did reinstate a $0.05/share dividend recently, which gave the shares a bit of a boost.

If US sales rise as predicted in December, the potential upsides to these two stocks could close quickly. Toyota today lowered its earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending in March by more than 50%, citing supply problems due to the floods in Thailand. If there are buyers out there, GM and Ford could benefit from Toyota’s continuing troubles.

The car rental firms are all trading lower today than they were a month ago, and the implied gains for Hertz, Avis, and Zipcar are all above 80%. It might be best to think of those as signs of further deterioration in share prices and targets rather than any sort of implied upside.

The best performers have been the dealers. AutoNation has burst through its target price, and CarMax and America’s Car-Mart both have had their target prices raised in the past month. CarMax has the highest implied upside of the three, at 11%, while America’s Car-Mart’s potential upside is about 3%. Recent strength among these dealers should continue through this month, and this looks the one sector of the auto-related industry that stands to gain the most.

The parts stores have also performed well, with O’Reilly also busting through its median target price of $80 and posting a new 52-week high today at $81.24. AutoZone posted weak earnings earlier this week, which has pushed the share price down. But the company’s implied upside to a raised target price of $360.00 is about 9%. The Pep Boys have an implied upside of about 45%, based on a target price of $16.00 and current share price of $11.00. The company’s recent weak earnings report could indicate that the target price needs to come down, not that the share price is on its way up.

The search for a value play among these stocks would probably point to either GM or Ford, both of which appear to be undervalued and to be poised on the verge of a very good sales month. While the dealers and the parts stores have performed better recently, these stocks are pretty fully valued now. The implied gains of greater than 80% among the rental car companies is not a hopeful sign.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Autos, Value Investing Tagged: AN, AZO, CAR, CRMT, F, GM, HTZ, KMX, ORLY, PBY, ZIP

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell (DWA, HRB, PCLN, RAD, WAG, ADSK, GM, AONE, IL, NILE, HNR, NP, ENER, PRTS, ORLY, AMSC, NOR, C, BZH)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:07:49 +0000

Pre-market signals were weak today, and once trading opened, the signals got stronger. The DJIA has traded down more than -200 points for most of the day, with financial and energy stocks the hardest hit. Rates on Italian bonds topped 7% this morning, sending traders running away from equities and commodities alike. The only gainer for the day appears to be the dollar, which is stronger against the euro and the yen in the mid-afternoon. Crude prices fell below $95/barrel before recovering to near $98/barrel, and gold is down at $1,789.30. About an hour before closing, nearly 99% of the S&P 500 stocks were down on the day.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than -389 points to 11,780.94 (-3.2%), the NASDAQ fell nearly -106 points (-3.88%) to 2,621.65, and the S&P 500 fell -3.67% or nearly -47 points to 1,229.10.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (NYSE: DWA) cut to ‘sell’ at Janney; H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) raised to ‘outperform’ at Oppenheimer; Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) cut to ‘hold’ at S&P Capital IQ; Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) raised to ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) cut to ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; and Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) cut to ‘neutral’ at BofA/ML.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) is up down about -10%, at $22.48; A123 Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: AONE) is down less than -1%, at $3.09; IntraLinks Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: IL) is down more than -37%, at $5.50, after posting a new 52-week low of $5.44 earlier today; Blue Nile Inc. (NASDAQ: NILE) is down nearly -16%, at $33.24; Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: HNR) is down more than -19%, at $8.80; and Neenah Paper, Inc. (NYSE: NP) is up more than 12%, at $18.84.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) is down more than -32%, to $0.41. The company has said that it will suspend manufacturing and cut 500 jobs. Excess inventory of solar panels gets the blame.

U.S. Auto Parts Network, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRTS) is down more than -22%, at $3.94, after posting a new 52-week low of $3.66 earlier in the day. The company received a waiver from one of its lenders for failing to meet coverage ratio requirements.

O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) is down about -1.1%, at $76.44, after posting a new 52-week high of $77.95 earlier today. We noted the company’s performance earlier today in an article on auto sector implied gains.

American Superconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: AMSC)) is up nearly 10%, to $4.49. The company reported earnings today, and its growing order backlog indicates a possible turnaround following the loss of its biggest customer earlier this year.

Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp. (NYSE: NOR) is down more than -16%, at $8.51. The company will pay a special dividend of $1/share to shareholders of record as of yesterday’s close. That pushed the shares down a buck this morning, and the rest is due to the overall market decline today.

Citigroup (NYSE: C) is down more than -8%, at $28.78. The bank claimed the largest decline among the big US banks today.

Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE: BZH) is down nearly -8%, at $2.17. There was no special news from Beazer today, but the threatened burst of new foreclosures soon to hit the housing market have had a nasty effect on this lower-priced builder.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank president Dennis Lockhart is giving a speech in the morning and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a town hall meeting with soldiers and their families at Fort Bliss, Texas, at 11:45 a.m. We have noted the following events (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – International trade balance report
8:30 a.m. – Initial unemployment benefits claims
8:30 a.m. – Monthly import/export price report
9:45 a.m. – Bloomberg consumer comfort index
10:30 a.m. – EIA natural gas inventory report
2:00 p.m. – Monthly US Treasury budget report
4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply report

Paul Ausick

Filed under: HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ADSK, AMSC, AONE, BZH, C, DWA, ENER, GM, HNR, HRB, IL, NILE, NOR, NP, ORLY, PCLN, PRTS, RAD, WAG

Target Prices for Auto Sector Stocks (GM, F, HTZ, CAR, ZIP, AN, KMX, CRMT, ORLY, AZO, PBY)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:38:14 +0000

About three weeks ago, we looked at target prices and implied share price gains in a number of auto sector stocks. The quarterly earnings season had just begun, and hopes were pretty high for the sector. The stocks we considered were General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: GM), Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ), Avis Budget Group Inc. (NYSE: CAR), Zipcar Inc. (NASDAQ: ZIP), AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE: AN), CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX), America’s Car-Mart, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMT), O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY), AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO), and Pep Boys – Manny, Joe, and Jack (NYSE: PBY).

The automakers, General Motors and Ford, have remained essentially flat. GM’s report earlier today beat consensus estimates, but the outlook for the rest of the fourth quarter was lowered. If GM’s forecast comes true, the company could miss fourth quarter EPS estimates by as much as $0.50. The company earns profits only a bit better than Ford’s on sales that are about 10% higher. That means there are still costs to wring out of GM’s manufacturing. And the company’s China sales are not growing at the pace they were a year ago either.

GM’s target price remains at $42.00, which implies an 83% upside potential. Ford’s target price also remained the same, at $16, for an implied gain of 43% above today’s price. Neither target price is realistic in today’s economy.

Among the car rental companies, both Avis and Zipcar have had target prices cuts. Avis now has a target price of $24.50, down from $27 on October 20th. The potential upside has dropped from 133% to 87%.

The current share prices at Hertz and Avis are 12% and 13% higher, respectively, than they were on October 20th. Hertz’s implied gain at today’s stock price is 81%, and Avis’s is 87%. It is impossible to imagine a scenario in which either company makes a gain of that size. Far more likely are further target price cuts.

At Zipcar, the target price has dropped from $31.25 to $30.50, and upside potential has fallen from 80% to a shade above 70%. The company’s forward P/E also fell from an outrageous 273 to a more modest 149. Maybe someday the number will return to reality. Until then, target price cuts could be expected.

Among the auto dealerships, AutoNation got a boost to its median target price, from $32 to $32.50. The stock is trading today at $34.43, about 6% above its target price. But it’s share price is down from $37.06, a drop of about -7%. AutoNation reported a 6% sales gain year-over-year in October, with the biggest gain in its luxury car sales, which were up 27%.

Both CarMax and Car-Mart are trading higher than they were on October 20th, but there has been no change to the target price for either company. Car-Mart’s current price is only 11% below its target price, setting the stage for a boost if the company posts good numbers at its earnings report next week.

The largest change in the auto sector stocks we covered in October came in the parts suppliers group. O’Reilly’s median target price was raised from $68 to $80, and the shares are trading today at $77.74, a scant 3% below the new target. Shares posted a new high today at $77.94, on a day when the markets are down more than -2%.

Neither AutoZone nor Pep Boys was able to match that, as both have put up new 52-week lows since our October report.

All data from Yahoo! Finance and current prices were gathered at about noon today.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: Autos Tagged: AN, AZO, CAR, CRMT, F, GM, HTZ, KMX, ORLY, PBY, ZIP

Huge Gains Expected for Automotive Sector Stocks (GM, F, HTZ, CAR, ZIP, AN, KMX, CRMT, ORLY, AZO, PBY)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:37:09 +0000

New car sales in September are estimated to have risen 19% year-over-year, though down -5.5% sequentially. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of new car sales is now set at about 12.9 million new cars. That’s better than original projections, but still well below 2007 annual sales of 16.1 million new cars. We’ll look today at target price estimates for General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) and Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) to see how analysts are looking at the new car market going forward. Recent union settlements have also improved the outlook for these two firms, now that the threat of a strike is gone.Used car sales are estimated to have topped 36 million vehicles in 2010, and new car makers are competing with those sales by increasing incentives. There is also intense competition in the used car market from literally thousands of small dealers. We’ve got some insight today on new car dealer AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE: AN), and used car dealers CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) and America’s Car-Mart, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMT).

Competition plays a critical role in car rental agencies as well. We’ve gathered some data on Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) and Budget Group Inc. (NYSE: CAR), who were battling over Dollar Thrifty until earlier this month. We’ve also included Zipcar Inc. (NASDAQ: ZIP) in our review because there is evidence that its short-term rental model is about to get competition from both the big rental companies and the new car makers themselves.

Finally, we’ve looked at parts suppliers O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY), AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO), and Pep Boys – Manny, Joe, and Jack (NYSE: PBY). As car owners hold onto their cars longer, parts suppliers stand to profit.

All data from Yahoo! Finance and current stock prices were gather just before noon today.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) has a median target price of $42.00 from 17 brokers. Shortly before noon today, shares are trading today at $22.78, for an implied gain of $19.22, or 84%. GM’s forward P/E is 5.24 and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $19.05-$39.48, and at today’s price that’s about 20% above its 52-week low and 42% below the 52-week high.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) has a median target price of $16.00 from 15 brokers. Shares are trading today at $11.61, for an implied gain of $4.39, or 38%. Ford’s forward P/E is 6.59 and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $9.05-$18.97, and at today’s price that’s about 28% above its 52-week low and 39% below the 52-week high.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) has a median target price of $21.00 from 5 brokers. Shares are trading today at $10.37, for an implied gain of $10.63 or 133%. Hertz’s forward P/E is 6.43 and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $7.80-$17.64, and at today’s price that’s about 33% above its 52-week low and 41% below the 52-week high.

Avis Budget Group Inc. (NYSE: CAR) has a median target price of $27 from 5 brokers. Shares are trading today at $11.61, for an implied gain of $15.39, or 133%. Avis’s forward P/E is 8.95 and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $8.45-$19.49, and at today’s price that’s about 37% above its 52-week low and 40% below the 52-week high.

Zipcar, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZIP) has a median target price of $31.25 from 4 brokers. Shares are trading today at $17.38, for an implied gain of $13.87, or 80%. Hertz’s forward P/E is an astronomical 273 as the company has yet to show a profit since its IPO in April. The company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $16.50-$31.50, and at today’s price that’s about 5% above its 52-week low and 45% below the 52-week high.

AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE: AN) has a median target price of $32 from 8 brokers. Shares are trading today at $37.06, about 5% above its consensus target price. AutoNation’s forward P/E is 17.55 and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $22.28-$41.55, and at today’s price that’s about 66% above its 52-week low and 10% below the 52-week high.

CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) has a median target price of $33 from 13 brokers. Shares are trading today at $27.76, for an implied gain of $5.24, or 19%. CarMax’s forward P/E is 14.06 and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $22.77-$37.02, and at today’s price that’s about 22% above its 52-week low and 25% below the 52-week high.

America’s Car-Mart, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMT) has a median target price of $37 from 5 brokers. Shares are trading today at $29.89, for an implied gain of $7.11, or 24%. Car-Mart’s forward P/E is 8.86 and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $22.77-$37.50, and at today’s price that’s about 31% above its 52-week low and 20% below the 52-week high.

O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) has a median target price of $68 from 19 brokers. Shares are trading today at $70.16, about 2% above its consensus target price. O’Reilly’s forward P/E is 17.12 and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $52.97-$72.00, and at today’s price that’s about 32% above its 52-week low and 3% below the 52-week high.

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO) has a median target price of $350 from 17 brokers. Shares are trading today at $326.17, for an implied gain of $23.83, or 7.3%. AutoZone’s forward P/E is 12.59 and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $229.84-$337.23, and at today’s price that’s about 42% above its 52-week low and 3% below the 52-week high.

Pep Boys – Manny, Joe, and Jack (NYSE: PBY) has a median target price of $16 from 5 brokers. Shares are trading today at $10.95, for an implied gain of $5.05, or 46%. The Pep Boys’s forward P/E is 9.43 and the company pays a dividend yield of 1.1%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $7.86-$15.96, and at today’s price that’s about 39% above its 52-week low and 31% below the 52-week high.

As you can see, there are some of the auto-related stocks that are close to or are now fully valued. Still, there remains massive upside if the consensus analyst targets can be met. Some upside targets are still so high that you have to wonder if they have been updated to reflect the new reality or if they are even really attainable.

Paul Ausick

Filed under: auto, Labor & Unions Tagged: AN, AZO, CAR, CRMT, F, GM, HTZ, KMX, ORLY, PBY, ZIP

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (CIEN, DRYS, ICE, IM, NAT, ORLY, RAX, PRSP, RF, STI, SLB, TMH, TIF)

247wallst — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:31:19 +0000

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

Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) Started as Buy at Auriga.
DryShips (NASDAQ: DRYS) Raised to Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald.
Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Imgram Micro (NYSE: IM) Raised to Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
Nordic American Tanker (NYSE: NAT) Raised to Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald.
O’Reilly Auto (NASDAQ: ORLY) Raised to Outperform at FBR Capital.
Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX) Started as Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.
Prosperity Bancshares (NASDAQ: PRSP) Cut to Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets.
Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) Cut to Market Perform at FBR Capital.
SunTrust Banks (NYSE: STI) Cut to Sell at Stifel Nicolaus; Raised to Outperform at FBR Capital.
Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) Raised to Outperform at FBR Capital.
Team Health Holdings (NYSE: TMH) Started as Buy at Citigroup; Started as Overweight at Barclays; Started as Outperform at Morgan Keegan; Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs; Started as Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) Raised to Overweight at HSBC.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear about top analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPOs and secondary offerings, ongoing day trader and options trader alerts, stock and market rumors, Buffett and guru investor news, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: CIEN, DRYS, ICE, IM, NAT, ORLY, PRSP, RAX, RF, SLB, STI, TIF, TMH

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (A, CRA, CNQR, GLW, AZO, BHP, CERN, GOL, ORLY)

247wallst — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 11:50:45 +0000

These are the top pre-market analyst upgrades and downgrades we have seen with just about two hours until the market opens this Monday morning:

Agilent (A) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Celera (CRA) Raised to Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
Concur Tech (CNQR) Raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray.
Corning (GLW) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
AutoZone (AZO) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
BHP Billiton (BHP) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Cerner (CERN) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
GOL Linhas Areas Inteligentes (GOL) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
O’Reilly Auto (ORLY) Cut to Neutral at UBS.

JON C. OGG
March 23, 2009

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: A, AZO, BHP, CERN, CNQR, CRA, GLW, GOL, ORLY

Top Analyst Upgrades (AAP, AZO, ED, CRH, DHR, LLY, INTC, LEAP, ORLY, SEIC)

247wallst — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:47:35 +0000

These are te upgrades and positive research calls that we have seen from Wall Street this Wednesday morning:

Advance Auto Parts (AAP) Started as Outperform at Baird.
AutoZone (AZO) Started as Outperform at Baird.
Con Edison (ED) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
CRH plc (CRH) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Danaher (DHR) Raised to Outperform at William Blair.
Eli Lilly (LLY) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Intel (INTC) Raised to Buy at Needham.
Leap Wireless (LEAP) Raised to Overweight at Thomas Weisel.
O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY) Started as Outperform at Baird.
SEI Investments (SEIC) Raised to Outperform at KBW.

JON C. OGG

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: AAP, AZO, CRH, DHR, ED, INTC, LEAP, LLY, ORLY, SEIC