24/7 Wall St. » PNRA

Deutsche Bank Likes Five Top Restaurant Stocks for the Summer

Lee Jackson — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:30:33 +0000

Restaurants, like any other retail stock, are dependent on a reasonably strong and healthy consumer. The gradual improvement in the job picture and the economy may bode well for the sector. While restaurant stocks are currently expensive on most measures, including forward price-to-earnings ratios and relative multiples, many companies are still underlevered, perhaps providing ongoing cash flow support via higher dividends and buybacks.

In a new report, Deutsche Bank A.G (NYSE: DB) points out that despite generally sluggish same-store sales and traffic, especially in the first quarter, as well as limited unit expansion potential for many brands, they believe that the cash flow generation of these businesses has been a key support for stock prices, helping offset low organic growth for many companies. Their research screened for stocks that possess the best combination of stable, cash-rich businesses and relatively low leverage.

Here are their top restaurant stocks to buy now.

Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) is the top stock to buy at Deutsche Bank. More than a bakery, the popular eatery has become a go-to destination for lunch and dinner, which is raising the average check amount. Deutsche Bank has a $200 price target, which was just raised from $190. The Thomson/First Call estimate is also $200.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) is a mega-cap blue chip on the list. The iconic fast-food restaurant recently has made menu changes to appeal to more health conscience customers. Deutsche Bank has a $110 price target, while the consensus is $108. Investors are also paid a tasty 3.10% dividend.

Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) sure seems packed every Saturday and Sunday during the football season. Using the strip-mall location theme has worked big and help to drive earnings. Deutsche Bank has placed a $106 target on the stock. The consensus estimate is $100.

Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DFRG) is a stock to buy for investors that want to own a high-dollar steakhouse. The company operates approximately 34 restaurants, including 10 Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House restaurants, 19 Sullivan’s Steakhouse restaurants, and five Del Frisco’s Grille restaurants in 19 states. Deutsche Bank’s $20 price target is in line with the consensus estimate.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) rounds out the top five restaurant stock to buy. Starbucks recently announced plans to deliver the Keurig system and Starbucks-branded K-Cups to its strongest and fastest growing international markets such as China, Mexico and India, leveraging Starbucks’ popularity in those markets. Deutsche Bank has a $66 price target for the industry giant, which is the same as the consensus target. Investors receive a 1.30% dividend.

We have cautioned investors about going “all-in” on stocks at this level of the markets. It may make sense when investing in any of the Deutsche Bank restaurant stocks to scale in money. Another strategy would be to buy a half position now, and wait for a pullback to add the rest.

Filed under: Active Trader, Analyst Calls, Food, Retail Tagged: BWLD, DB, DFRG, featured, MCD, PNRA, SBUX

Top 12 Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AU, APO, ASTX, ATML, BSX, CAT, FUN, CRL, CI, CBST, DUK, EMC, GFI, NEE, PNRA, SIX, TUMI, TCB, XEL)

Jon C. Ogg — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:45:42 +0000

Investors and traders generally stay on the lookout for new ideas that will generate positive returns or income for their portfolio. 24/7 Wall St. looks over numerous research calls to find great ideas from value stocks to growth stocks to dividend stocks. Many of these are for stocks to buy and stocks to sell, and some come from Wall St. and some come from independent research firms.

These are some of this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from select Wall St. research calls.

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Apollo Global Management L.P. (NYSE: APO) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTX) started as Outperform at RBC.

Atmel Corp. (NASDAQ: ATML) raised to Outperform with $8.25 price target at FBR Capital Markets.

Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse (FULL SUMMARY).

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) cut to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Cedar Fair L.P. (NYSE: FUN) started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE: CRL) cut to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup.

Cigna Inc. (NYSE: CI) cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CBST) cut to Sell from Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) maintained Outperform but target price cut to $28 from $30 at Oppenheimer.

Gold Fields Inc. (NYSE: GFI) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

NextEra Energy Inc. (NYSE: NEE) raised to the Conviction Buy List with $84 price target at Goldman Sachs.

Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James and reiterated Outperform and price target raised to $200 from $190 at Oppenheimer.

Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: SIX) added to the Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Tumi Holdings Inc. (NYSE: TUMI) started as Outperform with $26 target at Credit Suisse.

TCF Financial Corp. (NYSE: TCB) cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.

Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL) raised to Buy with $32 target at Goldman Sachs.

UBS gave two great lists. One is a list of stocks that still has 25% or more in upside. A second is the antithesis with a list of stocks to sell from its “least preferred” list.

Here are the 10 things at hand right now that wreck the bull market.

Filed under: Active Trader, Analyst Calls, Value Investing Tagged: APO, ASTX, ATML, AU, BSX, CAT, CBST, CI, CRL, DUK, EMC, FUN, GFI, NEE, PNRA, SIX, TCB, TUMI, XEL

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — December 19, 2012: Markets Open Mixed, Slide to a Close (C, SWHC, SD, ONXX, PNRA, ORCL, FDX, GIS, NAV, BBBY, JBL, PAYX, KMX, CCL, CAG, DFS, KBH, RAD, SCHL, GM, STP, CSIQ, LDK, THQI, ONTY)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 21:03:19 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened flat to higher this morning but the good vibe didn’t last long. In Europe, the Bank of England made no changes either to interest rates or its bond buying program. Germany’s IFO business climate index rose a bit more than expected and industrial production in Italy was unchanged while Spanish production rose sharply — both readings were better than expected. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei rose above 10,000 for the first time since April as the yen continued to fall ahead of tomorrow’s decision from the Bank of Japan on whether or not to add more stimulus to the Japanese economy. Housing starts were lower than expected in the U.S. in November, but new building permits increased (more coverage here). News on the fiscal cliff negotiations took a turn south today, with a sure-to-be-ignored-by-the-President-and-Senate vote in the Republican-controlled House on a proposal dubbed ‘Plan B.’

The U.S. dollar index fell today, now down 0.10% at 79.283. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.5% at 640.18, with commodities prices mostly lower again today. WTI crude oil closed up 1.8% today, at $89.51 a barrel following today’s report on inventories (more coverage here). Brent crude trades up 1.4% at $110.37 a barrel. Natural gas is down 2.8% today at about $3.32 per thousand cubic feet. Gold settled down 0.2% today at $1,667.70 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 99 points to 13,251.90 (-0.74%), the NASDAQ fell about 10 points (-0.33%) to 3,044.36, and the S&P 500 fell -0.76% or about 11 points to 1,435.80.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) raised to ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley; Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SWHC) cut to ‘neutral’ at Cowen; SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) cut to ‘neutral’ at Citigroup; Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) started as ‘buy’ at UBS; and Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) raised to ‘outperform’ at Wedbush.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have resulted in the following price change as of the last half hour of trading today: Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) is up 4.2% at $34.27 after posting a new 52-week high of $34.35 earlier today (more coverage here); FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) is up 1.5% at $93.73 (more coverage here); General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) is down 1.2% at $41.29 (more coverage here); and Navistar International Corp. (NYSE: NAV) is down 8.8% at $20.83 (more coverage here).

After markets close today and before they open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from Bed, Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY), Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL), Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX), Carmax Inc. (NYSE: KMX), Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL), ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG), Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS), KB Home (NYSE: KBH), Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD), and Scholastic Corp. (NASDAQ: SCHL).

Some standouts from today include the following stocks:

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) is up 7.1% at $27.30. The automaker is buying 200 million of its shares from the U.S.Treasury and has a plan to acquire the remaining 300 million. More coverage here.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) is up 15.9% at $1.24. The solar panel maker is benefiting from a new policy statement from the Chinese government, which claims that the government will “reform” the industry by encouraging mergers and acquisitions, and by banning local governments from propping up local favorites with loans. Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) and LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) are both up more than 10% today.

THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) is down 71.7% at $0.39 after posting a new 52-week low of $0.34 earlier today. The video game company filed for bankruptcy today and shares were halted briefly. More coverage here.

Oncothyreon Inc. (NASDAQ: ONTY) is down 52.9% at $2.12 after posting a new 52-week low of $1.71 earlier today. The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company failed to hit targets with its late-stage lung-cancer drug study.

Stay tuned for Thursday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – GDP
8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
8:30 a.m. – Corporate profits
10:00 a.m. – Existing home sales
10:00 a.m. – Philadelphia Fed survey
10:00 a.m. – FHFA house price index
10:00 a.m. – Leading economic indicators
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
1:00 p.m. – 5-year TIPS auction
4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: BBBY, C, CAG, CCL, CSIQ, DFS, FDX, GIS, GM, JBL, KBH, KMX, LDK, NAV, ONTY, ONXX, ORCL, PAYX, PNRA, RAD, SCHL, SD, STP, SWHC, THQI

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (BBT, CENT, C, GTAT, HBI, MDVN, ONXX, PNRA, RF, SD, SWHC, USB, WFC)

Jon C. Ogg — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 13:51:34 +0000

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

BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Central Garden & Pet Co. (NASDAQ: CENT) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT) cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE: HBI) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Medivation Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) started as Neutral at UBS.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) started at Buy at UBS.

Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) raised to Outperform at Wedbush.

Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) raised Overweight at Morgan Stanley

SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SWHC) cut to Neutral at Cowen.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Here are some other outside (and internal) outlook pieces for the end of 2012 and 2013:

Imagine this … Coal could be a top performer in 2013 after two really bad years.
Fortune’s Top 10 Stocks to Buy for 2013
BofA’s 10 Defensive and Yield Stock Picks for 2013
The Big Gold Trade: 2013 Pairing Gold Versus Miners
S&P 500 Upside Targets for 2013, from everyone
Our own Alternative Energy and Cleantech Outlook for 2013

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: BBT, C, CENT, GTAT, HBI, MDVN, ONXX, PNRA, RF, SD, SWHC, USB, WFC

Top Active Trader Alerts, Major Stocks on the Move (BWLD, FB, IRBT, INVN, NFLX, PNRA, RFMD, SIRI, SCMR, TPX, UTHR, ZNGA)

Jon C. Ogg — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 12:46:05 +0000

We have many stocks on the move this morning. The following are the stocks to watch for active traders this Wednesday: Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD); Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB); iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT); InvenSense Inc. (NYSE: INVN); Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX); Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA); RF Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: RFMD); SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI); Sycamore Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: SCMR); Tempur-Pedic International Inc. (NYSE: TPX); United Therapeutics Corp. (NASDAQ: UTHR); and Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA). We have shown the moves and given a brief summary on each.

Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) is going to be down handily and shares are indicated under $75 after closing at $83.46 on Tuesday. Profits failed to meet estimates. Store growth looked slower as well. The prior 52-week range is $58.08 to $94.81.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) has soared after earnings, and we have even seen two analyst upgrades from Citi and Bank of America; shares are up 20% at $23.55 and trading volume is very active.

iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT) is way down and trading even worse than last night, with shares under $20.00 against a 52-week range of $19.09 to $38.33. While it grew, it said with earnings that the 2012 outlook for D&S has deteriorated and it expect further declines in 2013. Volume is light but shares are around $19 after closing at $22.64.

InvenSense Inc. (NYSE: INVN) was up 1.6% yesterday. That was before its earnings report. The company said that Steven Nasiri will step down as CEO and chairman effective immediately. Shares are down almost 12% at $12.49, but shares were down as much as 18% at $10.20 last night, against a 52-week range of $8.25 to $22.35.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was a total disappointment on the earnings and growth front. Shares are down a whopping $11.30, or 16.6%, at $56.90 in trading volume that does not feel as active as it would have a year ago or so.

Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) bucked the bad news trend from restaurants. Along with a 27% gain in its profits, guidance was positive and ahead of estimates. Shares are up 5.4% at $169.00 in the after-hours session against a 52-week range of $114.58 to $175.26.

RF Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: RFMD) rose yesterday, rose in the after-hours and also is up even more this morning. Revenue rose sequentially to $209.7 million and sees the current quarter at $245 million due to improvements. Shares are now up by almost 16% to $4.55 this morning, and its 52-week range is $3.45 to $7.89.

SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is down 2.4% at $2.80 after Mel Karmazin said he was resigning. Make no mistake: this was a John Malone push-out in that fight for control of the company.

Sycamore Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: SCMR) is selling a unit, looking to sell another line and then plans to close down the company and distribute its assets to shareholders in a special cash dividend. Adios! Shares are down more than 7% at $5.55 so far this morning.

Tempur-Pedic International Inc. (NYSE: TPX) has bed bugs if its earnings and guidance are any read. Shares were down 4.6% yesterday and the stock is down 18.6% at $25.95 so far this morning. Posting a quarterly loss and a weaker-than-expected forecast is crushing this stock all over again. Keep in mind that the 52-week range is $20.70 to $87.43.

United Therapeutics Corp. (NASDAQ: UTHR) is trading down 12%, or almost by $6.50, to $46.79 in active trading. The company received a complete response letter for its Oral Treprostinil new drug application, which means that the FDA did not approve its application.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) shares are up 5% at $2.32 with a strong Facebook. After the layoff news yesterday, it was hard to not notice that Zynga is a dog, but still a dog that trades close to its book value now.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Active Trader, Pre-Market Activity Tagged: BWLD, FB, INVN, IRBT, NFLX, PNRA, RFMD, SCMR, SIRI, TPX, UTHR, ZNGA

After-Hours Major Winners & Losers (BWLD, IRBT, INVN, PNRA, RFMD, TPX, UTHR)

Jon C. Ogg — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 21:19:34 +0000

We have several after-hours movers that we have not covered individually tonight. We have Netflix getting crushed and Facebook is rallying on mixed news. Here are some other stocks on the move after earnings. We are tracking big after-hours moves in the following: Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD); iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ: IRBT); InvenSense, Inc. (NYSE: INVN); Panera Bread Company (NASDAQ: PNRA); RF Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: RFMD); Tempur-pedic International Inc. (NYSE: TPX); and United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ: UTHR).

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ALU, BLK, BBVA, CMCSA, DTV, DISH, TWC, HMC, KEY, LNKD, MXIM, ONXX, PNRA, PSX, RUSHA, TYC)

Jon C. Ogg — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 12:54:42 +0000

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Wall St. research calls this Monday. Today’s calls are light perhaps due to the Columbus Day holiday.

Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU) cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) raised to Buy at Citigroup.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) maintained Buy but was added to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) reiterated Buy with $80 target at BofA/ML.

Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV), Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH) and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) were all started with Sector Perform ratings at Pac-Crest.

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) maintained Hold but lowered 2012 earnings target by about 20% by Argus.

Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (NASDAQ: MXIM) raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) reiterated Buy and raised target to $101 at BofA/ML.

Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) cut to Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets.

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) reiterated Buy and target raised to $54 at Argus.

Rush Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: RUSHA) started as Outperform with $22 target at Credit Suisse.

Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) reiterated Buy with $34 target at Argus.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: ALU, BBVA, BLK, CMCSA, DISH, DTV, HMC, KEY, LNKD, MXIM, ONXX, PNRA, PSX, RUSHA, TWC, TYC

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AMD, AMGN, AAPL, ARIA, AZN, BIIB, CELG, DELL, ERIC, FITB, INTC, IP, ITRI, PHG, LULU, NRG, PNRA, PNC, PGR, SNY, STX, S, WFC, RF)

Jon C. Ogg — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 12:05:23 +0000

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

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) raised to Buy at UBS.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) started as Buy at Monness Crespi Hardt.

Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN) cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) cut to Neutral at UBS.

Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG) cut to Neutral at UBS.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) started as Buy at Monness Crespi Hardt.

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) cut to Neutral at UBS.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) maintained Outperform with $32 target but lowered sales and margin estimates at Credit Suisse.

International Paper Co. (NYSE: IP) cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) started as Buy at BofA/ML.

Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (NYSE: PHG) cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) maintained Hold at Argus.

NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

PNC Financial Corp. (NYSE: PNC) raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Sanofi (NYSE: SNY) raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) cut to Hold at Argus.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) raised to Buy at Nomura.

Goldman Sachs removed Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) from the Conviction Buy List but maintained a formal Buy rating on the bank. Wells Fargo was replaced by Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF).

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, AMD, AMGN, ARIA, AZN, BIIB, CELG, DELL, ERIC, FITB, INTC, IP, ITRI, LULU, NRG, PGR, PHG, PNC, PNRA, RF, S, SNY, STX, WFC

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ANGI, BNS, BIDU, CYBX, IDXX, IBM, KIRK, MYL, PNRA, PBH, SCHN, TEAR, TEVA, WPI, RDC, ATW, NE, DO, ORIG, ESV, HERO, SDRL, RIG)

Jon C. Ogg — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:29:24 +0000

These are the top analyst calls of upgrades, downgrades and initiations we have seen from Wall St. research calls this Wednesday morning.

Angie’s List Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) target cut to $153 at Barclays.

Cyberonics Inc. (NASDAQ: CYBX) raised to Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

IDEXX Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: IDXX) started as Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) reiterated Buy with $235 price target at Argus.

Kirkland’s Inc. (NASDAQ: KIRK) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Mylan Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) reiterated Buy with $27 target at Argus.

Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Prestige Brands Holdings Inc. (NYSE: PBH) named value stock of the day at Zacks.

Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: SCHN) cut to Sell at CLSA.

TearLab Corp. (NASDAQ: TEAR) started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) reiterated Buy with $48 target at Argus.

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: WPI) reiterated Buy and raised target to $100 at Argus.

Credit Suisse initiated the U.S. offshore drilling sector: Rowan Companies (NYSE: RDC) added to U.S. Focus List and named top pick; other top picks are Atwood Oceanics Inc. (NYSE: ATW) and Noble Corp. (NYSE: NE). Outperform ratings were given to these: Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO) and Ocean Rig UDW Inc. (NASDAQ: ORIG). Neutral ratings were given to Ensco PLC (NYSE: ESV), Hercules Offshore (NASDAQ: HERO), Seadrill Ltd. (NYSE: SDRL) and Transocean Inc. (NYSE: RIG).

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls, Oil & Gas Tagged: ANGI, ATW, BIDU, CYBX, DO, ESV, HERO, IBM, IDXX, KIRK, MYL, NE, ORIG, PBH, PNRA, RDC, RIG, SCHN, SDRL, TEAR, TEVA, WPI

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (DF, DLR, ELLI, FTE, GGP, GOOG, INFY, KMI, PNRA, RNR, RYL, R, SKS, CRM)

Jon C. Ogg — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 11:59:43 +0000

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

Dean Foods Company (NYSE: DF) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Digital Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: DLR) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.

Ellie Mae, Inc. (NYSE: ELLI) Started as Buy at ThinkEquity.

France Telecom SA (NYSE: FTE) Raised to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Started as Neutral at Wedbush.

Infosys Ltd. (NASDAQ: INFY) Cut to Equal-weight at Barclays.

Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.

Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) Started as Buy at KeyBanc.

RenaissanceRe Holdings, Ltd. (NYSE: RNR) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Ryland Group Inc. (NYSE: RYL) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE: R) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.

Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Started as Buy at ThinkEquity.

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: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: CRM, DF, DLR, ELLI, FTE, GGP, GOOG, INFY, KMI, PNRA, R, RNR, RYL, SKS