24/7 Wall St. » SFD

Top Analyst Downgrades and Stocks to Sell: Blackberry, LinkedIn, Renren and More

Jon C. Ogg — Wed, 15 May 2013 12:35:21 +0000

Investors frequently get to see the analyst upgrades and Buy ratings from Wall Street firms. What investors often do not get to see is when analyst downgrade stocks to sell or to avoid. 24/7 Wall St. reviews many fresh research calls each and every day to find great ideas from value stocks to growth stocks to dividend stocks, and we have broken out the negative analyst calls today. These are this Wednesday’s top analyst downgrades and cautious research notes from Wall Street.

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein.

Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) was cut to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

Clorox Inc. (NYSE: CLX) cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.

E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) was cut to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

Gardner Denver Inc. (NYSE: GDI) was cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Golar LNG Ltd. (NASDAQ: GLNG) was cut to Sell from an already cautious Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs.

Janus Capital Group Inc. (NYSE: JNS) was cut to Underweight from Overweight at Barclays.

LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) was started as Neutral based upon valuation at Baird.

Renren Inc. (NYSE: RENN) was cut to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD) was cut to Hold from Buy at BB&T.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NYSE: AMTD) was cut to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

Filed under: Active Trader, Analyst Calls Tagged: AMTD, BBRY, CLX, ETFC, GDI, GLNG, JNS, LNKD, RENN, SCHW, SFD

Corn Brings the Death of Food Inflation

Jon C. Ogg — Mon, 06 May 2013 17:10:15 +0000

If you have been paying attention to consumer prices and producer prices of late, the drop in the price of oil and other energy related items has been keeping a very tight lid on inflation. That has been true for most things that matter to consumers. Food has been an exception but that may be abating now as the price of corn has fallen the most in five weeks and is dragging down other food prices with it. The price of corn for grain and corn for feedstocks may be working in your favor again.

The news today showed that corn’s drop has been tied to dry weather allowing an accelerated planting to boost supply. Bloomberg even referred to a report from MDA showing a huge boost to the corn inventories in 2013. Corn futures were down 2.8% to $6.425 per bushel on above-normal trading this morning at the CBOT/CME in July, September, and December trading. The move is even down more than wheat futures being down 2% and soybean futures being down almost 1%.

Food inflation for feedstocks has been a serious thorn in the side of producers. These producers have had to pay for higher input costs to get chicken, hogs, and beef to market. Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN) is down over 4%, but that is because of a poor earnings report rather than due to a lower feedstocks price matrix on Monday.

Elsewhere, meat and prepared food companies are lower in sympathy with the market and with Tyson’s weak earnings report. Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ: PPC) is up Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL) is down 1.4% at $41.1 and Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NYSE: SFD) is down 0.9% at $25.40.

Teucrium Corn (NYSE: CORN) is down 3.8% at $40.05 against a 52-week range of $35.23 to $52.71.

Interestingly enough, shares of Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) are up over 2.5% but the stock is only at $0.2885 now that it is a small cap sub-$1 stock.

Filed under: Active Trader, Commodities & Metals, Food, Retail Tagged: CORN, featured, HRL, PEIX, PPC, SFD, TSN

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AAPL, AMX, BBY, BKD, COH, CVS, DKS, LTM, MOS, P, RSH, RHT, SHW, SFD, TJX, URI, PAY, XOOM)

Jon C. Ogg — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:35:12 +0000

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

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) maintained Hold but price target cut to $420 from $500 at Jefferies.

America Movil SAB (NYSE: AMX) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE: BKD) cut to Underperform at Macquarie.

Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) maintained Buy on Focus List with $65 target at Argus.

CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs and maintained Buy with $60 target at Argus.

Life Time Fitness Inc. (NYSE: LTM) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) raised to Outperform at BMO.

Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) started as Outperform at Pac-Crest.

RadioShack Inc. (NYSE: RSH) cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE: SHW) raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD) maintained Outperform and raised target to $31 from $26 at Credit Suisse.

TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) started as Overweight at Barclays.

United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

VeriFone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY) raised to Positive at Susquehanna.

Xoom Corp. (NASDAQ: XOOM) started as Buy at Needham, started as Market Perform at Raymond James, started as Outperform at William Blair and started as Overweight at Barclays.

UBS came out with a list of eight stocks to buy now.

Here are 11 stocks which analysts expect to rise 50% to 100% (or more) over the next year.

Filed under: Active Trader, Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, AMX, BBY, BKD, COH, CVS, DKS, LTM, MOS, P, PAY, RHT, RSH, SFD, SHW, TJX, URI, XOOM

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — March 11, 2013: Markets Recover Slightly from Low Open (BBY, BTU, SFD, ADBE, MT, CSIQ, CHYR, DKS, RENN, CVI, DMND, FCEL, URBN, BONT, SSI, BBRY, T, ZNGA, YHOO)

Paul Ausick — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 20:05:39 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened lower this morning after France reported a decline in industrial production and China reported consumer inflation up more than expected (more coverage here). There was no significant data reported in the U.S. today, so the weak opening eventually gave way to buying, pushing stocks into positive gains by around noon. The gains were modest with financial stocks leading the gains, while energy, technology, and telecom stocks trailed along. In Japan, the nominee for the central bank’s Board of Governors said he did not think that the current asset purchase plan was big enough to allow the country’s to reach its 2% inflation goal. The volatility index notched a six-year low today (more coverage here).

The U.S. dollar index fell 0.12% today, now at 82.589. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.3% at 648.81, with commodities prices mixed again today. WTI crude oil closed up 0.1% today, at $92.06 a barrel. Brent crude trades down 0.7% at $110.10 a barrel. Natural gas is up 0.4% today at about $3.65 per million BTUs. Gold settled up 0.1% today at $1,578.00 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 50 points to 14,447.22 (0.35%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 9 points (0.26%) to 3,252.87, and the S&P 500 rose 0.32% or about 5 points to 1,556.22.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) raised to ‘overweight’ at Piper Jaffray; Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) cut to ‘market perform’ at BMO; Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD) raised to ‘neutral’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) cut to ‘neutral’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; and ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) raised to ‘buy’ at UBS.

Earnings reports since markets closed last Friday resulted in several price moves today, including these: Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) is down 14.6% at $3.19 (more coverage here); Chyron Corp. (NASDAQ: CHYR) is up 8.6% at $0.93; and Renren Inc. (NASDAQ: RENN) is up 0.7% at $3.09.

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from CVR Energy Inc. (NYSE: CVI), Diamond Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND), Fuel Cell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL), Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN), Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT), and Stage Stores Inc. (NYSE: SSI)

Some standouts among high-volume stocks today include:

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) is up 13.4% at $14.81. The mobile phone maker got a boost from an announcement that AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) would begin accepting pre-orders tomorrow for the company’s first touchscreen phone. More coverage here.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is up 10.6% at $3.95. The game developer’s shares jumped this afternoon following an analyst’s comment that Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) may be interested in acquiring the company.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) is down 10.9% at $45.11. The sporting goods retailer reported weak results and offered lower guidance than analysts were expecting. More coverage here.

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

7:30 a.m. – National Federation of Independent Business small business optimism index
11:30 a.m. – 4-week bill auction
1:00 p.m. – 3-year note auction
2:00 p.m. – Treasury budget

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ADBE, BBRY, BBY, BONT, BTU, CHYR, CSIQ, CVI, DKS, DMND, FCEL, MT, RENN, SFD, SSI, T, URBN, YHOO, ZNGA

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ADBE, ALTR, MT, AHL, BBVA, BBY, CNX, DVA, INTU, ITRI, MYL, BTU, SFD, VE)

Jon C. Ogg — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 12:25:18 +0000

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

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) cut to Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR) cut to Neutral at UBS.

ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) raised to Buy at UBS.

Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: AHL) raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) raised to Hold at Soc-Gen.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.

CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) raised to Outperform at BMO.

DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. (NYSE: DVA) cut to Neutral at SunTrust Robinson Humphreys.

Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) cut to Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) maintained Buy but cut target price to $49 from $53 at Argus.

Mylan Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL) cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) cut to Market Perform at BMO.

Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD) raised to Neutral at BofA Merrill Lynch.

Veolia Environnement S.A. (NYSE: VE) cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Here are 11 stocks that analysts expect to rise 50% to 100% (or more) over the next year.

We also have the 13 must-read stock stories from the weekend for Monday morning covering M&A, activist investors, Barron’s, Jim Cramer and more.

Filed under: Active Trader, Analyst Calls Tagged: ADBE, AHL, ALTR, BBVA, BBY, BTU, CNX, DVA, INTU, ITRI, MT, MYL, SFD, VE

Shareholder Attack of Smithfield Has Risks, but Merits Too (SFD, HRL, TSN)

Jon C. Ogg — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 16:29:40 +0000

Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD) is trading higher on word that a top shareholder called Continental Grain Co. has sent a letter urging the company to consider strategic alternatives. These alternatives include a breakup of the company into three units and including a dividend. We have just pondered whether there is the formation of an activist investor bubble happening, but either way this effort to drive Smithfield has some points that are very hard to ignore.

We cannot help but wonder if this strategy is a bit aggressive for the company if executed in full. Continental Grain owns about 6% of Smithfield, but what is interesting is that the group recently has lightened up by selling a small portion of its stake. The activist letter states:

Since the current management took over on August 31st, 2006 and through March 1, 2013, Smithfield stock has declined by 26 percent while, including dividends, Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) stock returned +70 percent and Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL) returned +131 percent — a shocking divergence in shareholder return among industry competitors. During this time, Smithfield has paid no cash dividends, while Tyson has cumulatively paid $429 million and Hormel has paid $728 million.

Despite the poor performance of Smithfield stock (last year alone it was down 11 percent while the S&P was up 16 percent), management has been extremely well compensated. The CEO has received $37 million in total compensation over the past two years.

While a breakup into three units would probably unlock value, it is important to realize that the market cap at a new 52-week high of $25.67 is only $3.57 billion. That may just unlock value to the point of irrelevance for each of the units. That being said, it is pretty unforgivable that Smithfield has not paid a dividend to its shareholders. If the company could take away that $37 million going forward, then it would have enough to pay a 1% dividend yield without dipping into other cash.

Here are the points of interest in a supplement to the SEC filing that outline Continental’s efforts.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Activist Investor, Compensation, Consumer Goods, Consumer Product, Corporate Governance, Dividends & Buybacks, Food, Retail Tagged: HRL, SFD, TSN

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — March 7, 2013: Markets Open Higher, Chop to Higher Close (SAP, CLH, ANGI, SD, BIG, ALJ, PETM, MTN, CIEN, DANG, JRCC, KR, SFD, FNSR, HRB, P, WDAY, ANN, FL, AMD, PBR, FB)

Paul Ausick — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 21:05:58 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened higher this morning and trickled lower most of the day as there was little news to follow generally good data from around the globe. In Japan, the central bank held interest rates and asset purchases at previous levels. In Europe, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank also left rates unchanged (more coverage here). French unemployment was higher than expected, as was France’s trade deficit. In the U.S., fourth quarter productivity was reported down and unit labor costs were higher. The new claims for jobless benefits fell, but the army of the unemployed grew (more coverage here). Tomorrow’s reports on non-farm payrolls and the U.S. unemployment rate are expected to show 171,00 more jobs and a drop in the unemployment rate from 7.9% to 7.8%

The U.S. dollar index fell 0.45% today, now at 82.089. The GSCI commodity index is down 0.7% at 641.74, with commodities prices mostly higher today. WTI crude oil closed up 1.3% today, at $91.56 a barrel. Brent crude trades up 0.4% at $111.10 a barrel. Natural gas is up 3.3% today at about $3.58 per million BTUs after a larger-than-expected drawdown on stocks (more coverage here). Gold settled up fractionally today at $1,575.10 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 33 points to 14,329.57 (0.23%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 10 points (0.30%) to 3,232.09, and the S&P 500 rose 0.18% or nearly 3 points to 1,544.28.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) raised to ‘overweight’ at HSBC; Clean Harbors Inc. (NYSE: CLH) raised to ‘outperform’ at Baird; Angie’s List Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) started as ‘overweight’ at Piper Jaffray; SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) cut to ‘underperform’ at BMO; and Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) raised to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank, cut to ‘hold’ at Canaccord Genuity, and cut to ‘underperform’ at Raymond James.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in several price moves today, including these: Alon USA Energy Inc. (NYSE: ALJ) is down 4% at $19.00; PetSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) is down 6.6% at $62.17; Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN) is up 7.4% at $60.87 after posting a new 52-week high of $61.83 earlier today; Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) is up 18.3% at $17.67; E Commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NASDAQ: DANG) is down 5.7% at $3.94; James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC) is down 6.7% at $2.38; Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) is up 3.3% at $30.34 after posting a new 52-week high of $30.62 earlier today (more coverage here); and Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD) is up 9.6% at $24.43 after posting a new 52-week high of $25.03 earlier today (more coverage here).

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from Finisar Corp. (NASDAQ: FNSR), H & R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB), Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P), Workday Inc. (NYSE: WDAY), Ann Inc. (NYSE: ANN), and Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL).

Some standouts among high-volume stocks today include:

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is up 4.1% at $2.53. This chipmaker had no news today, but the enthusiasm over the company’s inclusion in the coming PlayStation 4 continues.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA (NYSE: PBR) is up 5.1% at $17.53. The Brazilian oil & gas firm pushed higher for the second day in a row following the announcement of its hike to diesel fuel prices.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) is up 4.2% at $28.61. The social network company announced a new look for its news feed today, making room for more ads and pushing stock prices up.

Stay tuned for Friday. Fed Governor Elizabeth Duke is giving a speech. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

8:30 a.m. – Employment: non-farm payroll, unemployment rate
10:00 a.m. – Wholesale trade

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: ALJ, AMD, ANGI, ANN, BIG, CIEN, CLH, DANG, FB, FL, FNSR, HRB, JRCC, KR, MTN, P, PBR, PETM, SAP, SD, SFD, WDAY

Bringing Home the Bacon at Smithfield Foods

Paul Ausick — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:15:20 +0000

Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD) reported third-quarter fiscal 2013 results before markets opened this morning. The food processing firm reported adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.58 on revenues of $3.58 billion. In the same period a year ago, Smithfield reported adjusted EPS of $0.49 on revenue of $3.48 billion. Third-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $0.51 and $3.53 billion in revenue.

In comments on the company’s outlook, Smithfield said it expects margins on its packaged meat products to be at the high end of its normalized range on volume growth of 2% to 3% during the 2013 fiscal year, continuing into the next fiscal year. Smithfield is repeating the message it has sent at the ends of the past two quarters. The company’s international outlook is also unchanged: “in the upper half of the normalized range” for the full year.

The company’s CEO said:

We are excited about the growth prospects for this company as we continue to transform Smithfield into a more value-added consumer packaged meats company. We expect solid earnings in fiscal 2013 and look forward to even stronger results next year.

Operating margins in the company’s fresh pork division were 4% in the quarter, a decline from the 8% margin the company reported in the second quarter. Packaged meat margins were flat sequentially at 7%. Hog production operating margins fell to negative 8%, and Smithfield lost $15 per head on its hog production. Both figures nearly double the losses posted in the second quarter.

Shares are inactive in premarket trading this morning, having closed at $22.30 last night, in a 52-week range of $17.55 to $24.00. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $25.70 before today’s results were announced.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Earnings, Food Tagged: SFD

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — March 6, 2013: Markets Open Higher, Closed Mixed (JCP, ICE, BBY, QCOM, VVUS, GEVO, QIHU, SWHU, PAY, AEO, BIG, TFM, HOV, SPLS, STP, PETS, MTN, CIEN, DANG, JRCC, KR, SFD, MTG, PBR, BBRY)

Paul Ausick — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 21:04:01 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened higher this morning but struggled to maintain even a flat performance compared to yesterday’s close. Before the markets opened this morning, the Mortgage Bankers Association noted a 14.8% rise in applications (more coverage here) and the ADP employment report came in better than expected (more coverage here). In Asia, the deputy governor of the country’s central bank suggested that a new repurchase operation may be enacted to drain liquidity from the system. In Europe, preliminary results for the fourth quarter indicated that eurozone GDP contracted by 0.6%, as expected (more coverage here). The afternoon release of the Fed’s Beige Book did not move markets much, as most Fed districts continue to report “modest to moderate” growth.

The U.S. dollar index rose 0.45% today, now at 82.461. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.9% at 645.94, with commodities prices mostly lower today. WTI crude oil closed down 0.4% today, at $90.43 a barrel following a larger than expected expansion of inventories (more coverage here). Brent crude trades down 0.6% at $110.99 a barrel. Natural gas is down 1.5% today at about $3.48 per million BTUs. Gold settled flat today at $1,574.90 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 43 points to 14,296.39 (0.30%), the NASDAQ fell about 2 points (-0.05%) to 3,222.37, and the S&P 500 rose 0.11% or nearly 2 points to 1,541.47.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) cut to ‘neutral’ at Citigroup and cut to ‘perform’ at Oppenheimer; IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE) raised to ‘outperform’ at KBW; Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) raised to ‘buy’ at Jefferies; Qualcomm Corp. (NASDAQ: QCOM) maintained as ‘buy’ but removed from the Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs; and Vivus Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) started as ‘overweight’ at Piper Jaffray.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in several price moves today, including these: Gevo Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO) is up 7% at $1.99; Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (NYSE: QIHU) is down 7.8% at $32.09; Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SWHC) is up 5% at $9.71 (more coverage here); Verifone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY) is up 7.9% at $20.77; American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) is down 10.7% at $20.13; Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) is up 6.1% at $35.96 (more coverage here); Fresh Market Inc. (NASDAQ: TFM) is down 8.8% at $38.79 after posting a new 52-week low of $36.51 earlier today; Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: HOV) is down 3.9% at $5.86; Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) is down 8.7% at $12.13 (more coverage here); and Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) is down 1.7% at $1.19 (more solar coverage here).

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from Alon USA Energy Inc. (NYSE: ALJ), PetSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM), Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN), Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN), E Commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NASDAQ: DANG), James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC), Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), and Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD).

Some standouts from today include the following stocks:

MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE: MTG) is up 3.6% at $5.53 after posting a new 52-week high of $6.19 earlier today. This marks the third consecutive day the insurance company continues to find favor with investors.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA (NYSE: PBR) is up 14.8% at $16.63. The Brazilian oil & gas firm known as Petrobras was allowed to raise its price for diesel fuel by 5% today.

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) is up 7.3% at $13.50. The mobile smartphone maker continues to get some love from analysts after its U.K. launch and a week ahead of its launch in the U.S.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Fed Governor Jerome Powell is giving a speech. Retail stores will be reporting February same-store sales throughout the day. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

7:30 a.m. – Challenger job-cut report
8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
8:30 a.m. – International trade
8:30 a.m. – Productivity and costs
10:00 a.m. – Quarterly services survey
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
3:00 p.m. – Consumer credit
4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AEO, BBRY, BBY, BIG, CIEN, DANG, GEVO, HOV, ICE, JCP, JRCC, KR, MTG, MTN, PAY, PBR, PETS, QCOM, QIHU, SFD, SPLS, STP, SWHU, TFM, VVUS

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (CMA, FB, FIO, HES, JDSU, KMB, LOGI, QCOM, RIMM, RF, STX, SFD, UTX)

Jon C. Ogg — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:38:48 +0000

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

Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) cut to Underperform at Bernstein.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) has taken three analyst downgrades this morning, and one boutique upgrade (FULL NOTE).

Fusion-io Inc. (NYSE: FIO) is down handily after earnings but was raised to Buy from Hold at Lazard. J.P. Morgan cut the rating to Neutral from Overweight and Credit Suisse cut the rating to Neutral from Outperform.

Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) cut to Neutral at UBS and cut to Hold at Soc-Gen.

JDS Uniphase Corp. (NASDAQ: JDSU) raised to Buy at Needham.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) reiterated Buy and raised target by $6 to $98 at Argus.

Logitech International S.A. (NASDAQ: LOGI) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) reiterated Buy and raised target price to $83 at Canaccord Genuity.

Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse; S&P Equity Research cut RIM to Sell late Wednesday afternoon after the BB10 release.

Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) cut to Underperform at Bernstein and cut to Neutral at Baird.

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) cut to Underweight at Barclays.

Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) reiterated Buy and raised target by $8 to $100 at Argus.

Deutsche Bank has raised its targets and estimates on many health care facility and hospital stocks around Obamacare now.

Well-known analyst Dick Bove is at a new firm and he has called this week for 30% upside in the major bank stocks.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: CMA, FB, FIO, HES, JDSU, KMB, LOGI, QCOM, RF, RIMM, SFD, STX, UTX