Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) Started as Equal-Weight by Evercore Partners.
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) Cut to Negative from Neutral by Susquehanna; Reiterated Buy and raised price target objective to $93 by Argus.
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO) Cut to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.
Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) Started as Equal-Weight at Barclays.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Reiterated Outperform with $700 price target objective.
Human Genome Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) Started as Equal-Weight at Barclays.
Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP) Started as Hold by ThinkEquity.
NetEase.com (NASDAQ: NTES) featured as aggressive growth stock of the day by Zacks Investment Research.
Newpark Resources, Inc. (NYSE: NR) featured as the Value stock of the day by Zacks Investment Research.
Pepco Holdings Inc (NYSE: POM) Raised to Outperform with $23 price target objective by Credit Suisse.
Pharmacyclics Inc. (NASDAQ: PCYC) has been downgraded by RBC Capital Markets and by Global Hunter this morning.
Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) was initiated as “Underperform” by a firm called Imperial Capital.
SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) was initiated with a Buy rating and was assigned a $2.20 price target objective by Citigroup; Sirius was also featured as the Bull of the Day by Zacks Investment Research.
Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) lowered estimates and targets by Credit Suisse.
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) Started as Market Perform by BMO.

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JON C. OGG

Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) Cut to Neutral at HSBC.
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) Added to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Gafisa SA (NYSE: GFA) Reiterated Buy as Value at Zacks.
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (NYSE: KKR) Started as Neutral with $18 target at Credit Suisse.
Masco Corporation (NYSE: MAS) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) Maintained Buy but Cut target to $12 at Gleacher & Co.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Reiterated Outperform and $42 target at Credit Suisse.
Pepco Holdings Inc. (NYSE: POM) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT) Raised to Buy at S&P Equity Research (late Thursday).
Southern Company (NYSE: SO) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) Cut to Neutral at HSBC.
VeriSign Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) Raised to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late Thursday).

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JON C. OGG

Chico’s FAS Inc. (NYSE: CHS) Started as Neutral at Janney Capital Markets (late Monday).
Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Eldorado Gold Corp. (NYSE: EGO) Cut to Sector Perform at National Bank.
Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC) Raised To Outperform at National Bank.
National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) Cut to Strong Sell at S&P Equity Research.
OpenTable, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
OptionsXpress Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: OXPS) Cut to Underperform at Macquarie.
Pepco Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: POM) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Semtech Corp. (NASDAQ: SMTC) Reiterated Buy and $22.50 Target at Gleacher.
TradeStation Group Inc. (NASDAQ: TRAD) Raised to Outperform at Macquarie.
Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Started as Buy at Janney Capital Markets (late Monday).

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JON C. OGG

Cerner Corp. (NASDAQ: CERN) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Concur Technologies (NASDAQ: CNQR) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Dr Reddy’s (NYSE: RDY) Cut to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley
Eaton Corp (NYSE: ETN) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Global Cash Access Holdings (NYSE: GCA) Cut to Neutral at Sterne Agee.
Human Genome Sciences (NASDAQ: HGSI) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Linear Technology Corp. (NASDAQ: LLTC) Reiterated Buy but Raised target to $40 at Gleacher.
Owens-Illinois (NYSE: OI) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Pepco Holdings (NYSE: POM) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
SolarWinds (NYSE: SWI) Cut to Hold at Needham; Cut to Hold at Jefferies; Goldman Sachs cut to Neutral.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Xilinx (NASDAQ: XLNX) Reiterated Buy and Raised target to $33 at Gleacher.

JON C. OGG

We wanted to take a look at Select Sector SPDR Trust (NYSE: XLU), Southern Company (NYSE: SO), Dominion Resources, Inc. (NYSE: D), Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK), FPL Group, Inc. (NYSE: FPL), American Electric Power Company (NYSE: AEP), Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR), FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE: FE), Edison International (NYSE: EIX), Progress Energy Inc. (NYSE: PGN), PP&L Corporation (NYSE: PPL), Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL), DTE Energy Company (NYSE: DTE) and more.

There may actually be some time for them to shine in the near future. Despite the rally market of the last month, almost none of these stocks are within 5% of their 52-week highs.  We showed the dividend yields implied here, although as with all ‘yields’ there is often some distortion.  What we did not show was a P/E ratio because of the lagging effect of that, but we did show was the closing price for March 31 as the quarter closed and compared that to the 52-week trading range and compared it to the average consensus price target from Wall Street analysts per Thomson Reuters.

So why is this sector in the spotlight?  The dividend yields should be attractive enough.  Most are 4% and higher.  This offers defensive stock positioning, dividend yields, and the hope for some upside.  Of course, some are barren of a dividend due to issues and turnarounds. That keeps investors from having to go out to REITs and take on all the risks there associated with land values and trends.  Historically, utilities have been largely considered defensive stocks in hard times.  Morningstar noted in its quarterly wrap-up, “Utility stocks were hurt in the quarter by falling commodity and energy prices, bearish earnings outlooks as firms reported earnings, and a generally negative view of the future of electricity demand.”  The problem with that call is that energy demand is not dropping any longer and some larger companies are starting to increase their power usage again.

Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI), for smart metering systems, was up 3% at $59.56 with a $2.38 billion market cap.  Comverge, Inc. (NASDAQ: COMV), for peaking and base load capacity solutions to electric utilities, operators, and electric markets, is up 10% at $12.95 with a $286 million market cap.  Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) is up 7% at $14.70 with a $598 million market cap.

In the utility sector we are seeing the following moves:

• Consolidated Edison Inc. (NYSE: ED) up 0.3% at $41.47; $136 million grant vs. $11.4 billion market cap.
• Constellation Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE: CEG) up 0.4% at $32.03;  $200 million grant vs. $6.45 billion market cap.
• Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK) up 0.15% at $15.95; $200 million grant vs. $20.7 billion market cap.wins $200 million smart grid grant
• FPL Group Inc. (NYSE: FPL) down 2.2% at $50.95; $200 million grant vs. $21 billion market cap.
• NV Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NVE) up 1.3% at $11.52; $138 million grant vs $2.7 billion market cap.
• Pepco Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: POM) up 0.4% at $14.51; $168 million grant vs. $3.2 billion market cap.
• Southern Company (NYSE: SO) up 0.35% at $32.69; $165 million grant vs. $26 billion market cap.

Many of the beneficiary companies have not reported yet their awards.

Jon C. Ogg
October 27, 2009

• Altera (ALTR) and Xilinx (XLNX) Raised to Overweight at Global Crown.
• Biomarin Pharma    (BMRN) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
• Foster Wheeler (FWLT) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
• Palm (PALM) Raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray.
• Vertex Pharm (VRTX) Raised to Accumulate at ThinkEquity.
• Edison (EIX) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
• MGM Mirage (MGM) Cut to Hold at KeyBanc.
• Pepco Holdings (POM) was downgraded at both Barclays and at Wachovia.
• Tiffany (TIF) target cut by over 60% to $21.00 at HSBC.

JON C. OGG
March 4, 2009

The underwriting group was rather large, which means that it may havemany analysts’ calls in a month or so.  Morgan Stanley, CreditSuisse, and J.P. Morgan were listed as the joint book running manager;and lead managers were Banc of America and Wachovia Capital Markets.

The company is selling the shares and it listed use of proceeds asbeing used to repay short-term debt.  Pepco Holdings also granted theunderwriters a 30-day over-allotment option for additional 2.1 millionshares.

Pepco delivers electricity and natural gas to about 1.9 millioncustomers in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, and NewJersey.

This offering has been on the heels of a large sell-off in this stockand in the electricity sector.  Shares are down 4% at $16.82 today,which is still above its $16.60 pricing.  Its 52-week trading range is$15.27 to $30.10.  Before this offering, the market cap was almost $3.4 billion.

Jon C. Ogg
November 6, 2008