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Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ADTN, AAPL, ARNA, T, BEAM, BBBY, BBY, BWLD, CVX, HEK, JPM, MYGN, PRA, RSH, RXN, RIMM, SLF, TXRH, VZ)

Administrator — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:46:18 +0000

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

Adtran Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN) Reiterated Buy and $39 target at Argus.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Maintained Outperform but cut estimates at Credit Suisse (full details).

Arena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARNA) Raised to Buy at Jefferies; Raised to Outperform at Leerink Swann.

AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Beam Spirits Inc. (NYSE: BEAM) Maintained Hold at Argus.

Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) Cut to Neutral with $20 target at Credit Suisse.

Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) Reiterated Buy with $130 target at Argus.

Heckmann Corporation (NYSE: HEK) Started as Outperform with $5 target at Credit Suisse.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) Maintained Outperform but cut estimates at Credit Suisse; Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus; Cut to Market Perform at FBR.

Myriad Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN) Started as Neutral at BofA/ML.

ProAssurance Corp. (NYSE: PRA) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Rexnord Corporation (NYSE: RXN) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) Maintained Neutral and cut estimates at Credit Suisse.

Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE: SLF) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ: TXRH) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Verizon Communications, Inc. (NYSE: VZ) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

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JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: AAPL, ADTN, ARNA, BBBY, BBY, BEAM, BWLD, CVX, HEK, JPM, MYGN, PRA, RIMM, RSH, RXN, SLF, T, TXRH, VZ

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (ACI, AMT, BRK-B, CLF, CCI, DE, DPZ, GES, LOW, LULU, SINA, SNN, WNR, WAG, SLF, WPI, TEVA)

Administrator — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:19:44 +0000

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

Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE: ACI) named as Bear of the Day with a $13.00 price target at Zacks.
American Tower Corporation (NYSE: AMT) Started as Outperform at Macquarie.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B) named as Bull of the Day with a $91.00 price target at Zacks.
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Crown Castle International Corporation (NYSE: CCI) Started as Outperform at Macquarie.
Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) named as value stock of the day at Zacks.
Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) Started as Hold at KeyBanc.
Guess? Inc. (NYSE: GES) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) Raised to Buy at KeyBanc.
Sina Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank
Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE: SNN) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Western Refining Inc. (NYSE: WNR) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Argus made changes to its institutional model portfolio: added shares of Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) and sold out of shares of Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE: SLF).

Credit Suisse is out positive on generics saying that the news flow on generic Lipitor has obscured the bigger picture on Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI) and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA). The firm recommends buying WPI after its recent weakness as strong fundamentals just got cheaper. It also recommends buying TEVA for the longer term and as a turnaround story for 2012.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ACI, AMT, BRK-B, CCI, CLF, DE, DPZ, GES, LOW, LULU, SINA, SLF, SNN, TEVA, WAG, WNR, WPI

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (NLY, BSX, CECO, CLX, CNH, DNDN, FCX, HXL, HSP, MDT, COL, SWIR, STJ, SLF, TEVA, TDW, WYN)

Administrator — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:34:47 +0000

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

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ: CECO) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Clorox Corp. (NYSE: CLX) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
CNH Global N.V. (NYSE: CNH) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) Started as Overweight at Barclays.
Hexcel Corporation (NYSE: HXL) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Hospira Inc. (NYSE: HSP) cut to Underperform ar Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Sierra Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: SWIR) downgraded at Raymond James and Morgan Keegan.
St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE: SLF) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Tidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Wyndam Worldwide (NYSE: WYN) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: BSX, CECO, CLX, CNH, COL, DNDN, FCX, HSP, HXL, MDT, NLY, SLF, STJ, SWIR, TDW, TEVA, WYN

Brookfield Goes Deeper Into Turnaround & DIP Funds (BAM, SLF, CM, BPO)

247wallst — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:30:10 +0000

Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) and the Export Development Canada have announced the establishment of a C$1 billion fund with the backing of the “EDC” to provide debtor-in-possession loans, or DIP Financing, and other specialty finance solutions to Canadian companies undergoing a restructuring or reorganization. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE: CM) and Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE: SLF) are also involved as investors in this fund. The size of the investments from CIBC and Sun Life were not noted in the release, but this comes on the heels of a larger US$4 billion investor consortium dedicated to investing in underperforming real estate deals with Brookfield Properties Corporation (NYSE: BPO).

Brookfield’s commitment to the fund is to provide 10% cent of the fund’s capital, or $100 million (Canadian dollars) and it will manage the fund. In the management tasks it will identify and evaluate the investment opportunities for the fund. EDC is the largest investor with an initial participation of C$450 million which was noted as being able to grow to C$1 billion.

DIP financing is for companies which are seeking protection from creditors with capital to continue to operate their business while they complete their reorganization process. This further notes that the fund will target mid-market and larger-scale opportunities where a minimum of C$20 million in financing is required.

This new fund will be providing financing for companies under a restructuring and is meant to help the viable viable enterprises emerge from the current recession in a strong competitive position.

In a deal announced last week, Brookfield said that the consortium would invest in equity and debt in undervalued real estate companies or real estate portfolios where value can be created in a variety of ways, including financial and operational restructuring, strategic direction or sponsorship, portfolio repositioning, redevelopment or other active asset management. It also noted that the investments would be targeted at corporate property restructurings with a minimum US$500 million equity commitment, and pursued on a global basis, but with a focus on North America, Europe and Australasia.

Also in last week’s consortium announcement, Brookfield said that other investors each contributed US$300 million to US$1 billion into the consortium, but Brookfield said that it allocated US$1 billion.

Brookfield Asset Management shares are down 0.9% at $20.00 today, and the 52-week trading range is $11.21 to $33.11. About two years ago Jim Cramer said that Brookfield Asset management could be the next Berkshire Hathaway. At that time, shares were close to $39.00.

JON C. OGG
AUGUST 19, 2009

Posted in ADR, Conglomerates, Financial Stocks, Mergers and Buy Outs Tagged: BAM, BPO, CM, SLF

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (LFC, NUE, PLD, SLF, CCJ, SSCC)

247wallst — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 07:36:56 +0000

These are the few upgrades and downgrades we have seen this shortened Wednesday. As we are in the holidays, the analyst community has largely gone quiet until after the first of the year.

China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LFC) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Nucor (NYSE: NUE) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
ProLogis (NYSE: PLD) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank; Raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
Sun Life (NYSE: SLF) Raised to Outperform at CIBC.
Cameco (NYSE: CCJ) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
Smurfit-Stone (NASDAQ: SSCC) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Jon C. Ogg
December 24, 2008

Posted in Analyst Calls Tagged: CCJ, LFC, NUE, PLD, SLF, SSCC