Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) Started as Hold at Jefferies.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Cut to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.
AMERCO, Inc. (NASDAQ: UHAL) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AMLN) Started as Outperform with $22 target at Credit Suisse.
Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE: ACI) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Canon, Inc. (NYSE: CAJ) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $37 at BofA/ML.
Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) Cut to Market Perform Wells Fargo.
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: DLR) started as Overweight with $76 target at Morgan Stanley.
EnerSys Inc. (NYSE: ENS) named as Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.
Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) Reiterated Buy with $155 target at BofA/ML.
Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ: INCY) Cut to Equal-weight at Morgan Stanley.
Lorillard, Inc. (NYSE: LO) Started as Buy at Jefferies.
MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR) Raised to Hold at Jefferies.
Newell Rubbermaid, Inc. (NYSE: NWL) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $24 at BofA/ML.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) Started as Hold at Jefferies.
Renren Inc. (NYSE: RENN) Reinstated as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

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JON C. OGG

Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) is a real estate investment trust that has characteristics that might draw in multiple classes of investors.  Certainly you know what the company does as you have probably driven by one of its facilities or have probably even been a client.  It has been argued that there is a glut of storage units across America, but Public Storage has so far proven to be a winner for income investors and moderate growth investors alike.

The company also owns a 49% equity interest in Shurgard Europe. It released earnings and raised its dividend last week.  In that report, its revenues for the Same Store Facilities rose 3.4% and it raised its dividend by nearly 20%.  The company listed some 1,931 facilities that are stabilized and owned since January 1, 2009 with some 121.6 million net rentable square feet that represents about 94% of PSA’s aggregate net rentable square feet of our U.S. consolidated self-storage portfolio.

After looking at the new $0.95 payout and a $116 handle, PSA does still offer new investors a dividend yield of just over 3.25%. Two competitors for storage space are Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE: EXR) and Sovran Self Storage Inc. (NYSE: SSS).  Extra Space Storage is also a REIT and it pays a yield of about 2.7%.  Sovran Self Storage is also a REIT and has a higher yield of about 4.4%, but it is smaller and trades with much thinner trading volume each day.  There is also the AMERCO (NASDAQ: UHAL), the parent of U-Haul, but it is not a REIT, it is smaller, it is thinly traded, and it offers no dividend.

A fresh report this morning from Gleacher & Co. remained positive on operational improvements.  It cited increased tenant demand and partly refutes the storage oversupply myth as it noted “the absence of new supply.”  PSA was listed as high occupancy being above 90%, and it noted the seasonally strong second and third quarters ahead.

Gleacher noted acquisition possibilities for the company and talked up its past dividend growth, but also noted, “We maintain a positive stance for the shorter lease sectors such as apartments and storage. PSA offers a mix of both defensive and offensive qualities—defense from its balance sheet strength and well-covered dividend, and offense from improving operations and growth from acquisitions.”

Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target of only $110.58, but Gleacher & Co. reiterated its ‘Buy’ rating and it raised its target by $3.00 to $125.00.  Shares are at $116.51 today and the 52-week range is $85.04 to $118.88.

JON C. OGG

AMERCO Inc. (NASDAQ: UHAL) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) Raised to Buy at Gleacher & Co.
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) Raised to Market Perform at FBR.
Exterran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: EXH) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
FormFactor Inc. (NASDAQ: FORM) Added to Top Pick List at Citigroup.
IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $100 at Argus.
Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) Reiterated Hold at Argus.
QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) Raised to Buy at Stern Agee.
Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN) Reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) Maintained Outperform and $8 target at Credit Suisse.
Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) Raised to Outperform at BMO.
Taseko Mines Ltd. (AMEX: TGB) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) Cut estimates on Japan at Argus.
Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) Reiterated Hold at Argus.

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JON C. OGG

• AMERCO (NASDAQ: UHAL) announce a $50 million share buyback plan.
• Children’s Place Retail Stores (NASDAQ: PLCE) NOV s-s-s were +3%.
• Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) announced its CEO succession plan, Kent will replace Isdell in July 2008.
• Costco (NASDAQ: COST) same-store sales rose 9%. Analysts had expected 6.6%.
• Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) put 2008 EPS guidance at $3.85-4.00, slightly above consensus.
• Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO) issued downside guidance with same-store-sales.
• Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) was noted as Cramer’s Top Mining & Minerals stock on MAD MONEY.
• GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) will replace Dow Jones (NYSE:DJ) in the S&P 500 Index on date TBA.
• Hoku Scientific (NASDAQ: HOKU) shares trading up 35% after it signed a term sheet for financing its Polysilicon Plant in Idaho with $185 million.
• Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD) NOV s-s-s -7%.
• Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ: PSUN) NOV s-s-s +2.3%.
• Rambus (NASDAQ: RMBS) rose 1.7% to $20.19 as SEC dropped options investigation with no action recommended.
• Sierra Pacific (NYSE: SRP) filed to sell 12 million shares in a secondary.
• Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) reported its first quarterly loss in two decades; EPS were -$0.52 versus -$0.47 estimates.
• VF Corp. (NYSE: VFC) noted as Buy by Cramer on MAD MONEY.

Jon C. Ogg
December 6, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.