24/7 Wall St. » URBN

Top Wall Street Analyst Upgrades: Arch Coal, Gap, BioMarin and More

Jon C. Ogg — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:30:27 +0000

Investors and traders seem to be constantly looking for fresh research ideas that will lead to higher income or more profits. 24/7 Wall St. reviews many research calls each day to find great ideas from value stocks to growth stocks to dividend stocks. We are breaking out the positive analyst calls as far as stocks to buy and positive research calls today and these are some of Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades, initiations and positive analyst research calls seen from Wall Street today.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) was started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.

CBOE Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CBOE) was named Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.

Chico’s FAS Inc. (NYSE: CHS) was started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.

EVERTEC Inc. (NYSE: EVTC) saw its quiet period come to an end and analysts have initiated coverage on the international transaction processing service provider as follows: started as Buy at UBS, started as Buy at Deutsche Bank, started as Outperform at Credit Suisse and started as Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) was raised to Outperform from market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Medivation Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) was started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) was started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Pinnacle Foods Inc. (NYSE: PF) was started as Outperform at Credit Suisse and started as Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.

Rally Software Development Corp. (NYSE: RALY) was started as Buy at Deutsche Bank and started as Outperform at JMP Securities.

Sanchez Energy Corp. (NYSE: SN) was started as Buy at SunTrust.

Urban Oufitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) was raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Deutsche Bank gave a list of picks in its call for it being time to rotate from industrial stocks into banks and technology stocks.

Filed under: Active Trader, Analyst Calls, Retail, Value Investing Tagged: ACI, ANF, BMRN, CBOE, CHS, EVTC, featured, GPS, KORS, MDVN, PF, RALY, SN, URBN

Top Retail and Apparel Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ANF, ARO, AEO, GPS, GNC, GRPN, HBI, LTD, ROST, UA, URBN)

Jon C. Ogg — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 12:30:31 +0000

This week should bring a lot of news from same-store sales for the retail and apparel sector. That makes it interesting that there are so many analyst calls in the space ahead of the news. We have spotted many key research calls from Wall St. for upgrades, downgrades and initiations. These by and large are not included in our wider coverage of the full list of the top daily analyst upgrades and downgrades this morning.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) started as Underweight with $44 target at Barclays.

Aeropostale Inc. (NYSE: ARO) started as Equal Weight at Barclays.

American Eagle (NYSE: AEO) started as Overweight with $25 target at Barclays.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) started as Overweight with $45 target at Barclays.

GNC Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNC) raised to Buy with $50 price target at Deutsche Bank.

Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) is generally deemed Internet or social media, but all it really does is offer daily deals and now offers payment processing to merchants. It was included in a broad Internet and interactive media call at UBS, with a Sell rating and $44.40 price target.

Hanesbrands Inc. (NYSE: HBI) raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

Limited Brands Inc. (NYSE: LTD) started as Overweight at Barclays.

Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST) was included in a UBS list of stocks that the firm believes has 25% upside or more.

Under Armour (NYSE: UA) started as Overweight with $60 target at Barclays.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) started as Overweight with $50 target at Barclays.

Barclays did include other names in the research initiations today, but some were screened out due to volume being light or because they were only given Equal Weight ratings.

If you are curious what Easter added to the economy from retail and beyond, that was projected at $17.2 billion. We think it is more because so many items are not counted in that report.

Filed under: Active Trader, Analyst Calls, Apparel, Retail Tagged: AEO, ANF, ARO, GNC, GPS, GRPN, HBI, LTD, ROST, UA, URBN

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — March 12, 2013: Markets Just Barely Overcome Low Open (BBY, RSH, P, AAPL TJX, CVI, DMND, FCEL, URBN, BONT, COST, SSI, DOLE, COOL, PPHM, EXPR, TA, GLU, JCP, ZNGA)

Paul Ausick — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:04:50 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened lower this morning but never managed to hold a position in positive territory. Despite a significant drop in U.K. industrial production in February, the country’s trade deficit was narrow than expected and the FTSE 100 index actually rose. Elsewhere in Europe the few data points that were released today did not move markets much one way or the other. In Asia, the Chinese government tried to persuade investors (not altogether successfully) that downturns in yesterday’s data reports were mainly due to the lunar new year. In the U.S., there was no early morning data and few earnings reports of note. A report on job gains and losses was mostly positive (more coverage here), and the afternoon auction of 3-year Treasury notes went off at a yield of 0.411%, identical with the February auction.

The U.S. dollar index rose 0.02% today, now at 82.594. The GSCI commodity index is down fractionally at 648.72, with commodities prices mostly mixed again today. WTI crude oil closed up 0.5% today, at $92.54 a barrel, following the release of the EIA’s short-term energy outlook (more coverage here). Brent crude trades down 0.6% at $109.61 a barrel. Natural gas is down 0.3% today at about $3.64 per million BTUs. Gold settled up 0.9% today at $1,591.70 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up less than 2 points to 14,450.06 (0.01%), the NASDAQ fell more than 10 points (-0.32%) to 3,242.32, and the S&P 500 fell -0.24% or nearly 4 points to 1,552.48.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) raised to ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs; RadioShack Inc. (NYSE: RSH) cut to ‘sell’ at Goldman Sachs; Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) started as ‘outperform’ at Pac-Crest; Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) maintained as ‘hold’ but price target cut to $420 at Jefferies; and The TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) started as ‘overweight’ at Barclays.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in several price moves today, including these: CVR Energy Inc. (NYSE: CVI) is up 1.6% at $59.57; Diamond Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) is down 10.1% at $15.82; Fuel Cell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) is down 4.1% at $1.00; Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) is up 0.8% at $41.81; Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT) is up 5.5% at $12.56; Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) is up 1.2% at $103.68 (more coverage here); and Stage Stores Inc. (NYSE: SSI) is down 0.8% at $26.62.

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from Dole Food Company Inc. (NYSE: DOLE), Majesco Entertainment Co. (NASDAQ: COOL), Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: PPHM), Express Inc. (NYSE: EXPR), and TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSEMKT: TA).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

Glu Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ: GLUU) is up 15.3% at $2.79. The mobile game developer launched its first real-money mobile gambling game in the U.K.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) is up 4.3% at $15.69. The retailer denies the CEO is leaving and the shares rise. Go figure.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is down 4.8% at $3.74. The social game maker says it will offer real-money gambling games, but Glu Mobile beat it to the punch today.

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

7:30 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
8:30 a.m. – Retail sales
8:30 a.m. – Import and export prices
10:00 a.m. – Business inventories
10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
1:00 p.m. – 10-year note auction
2:00 p.m. – Treasury budget

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AAPL TJX, BBY, BONT, COOL, COST, CVI, DMND, DOLE, EXPR, FCEL, GLU, JCP, P, PPHM, RSH, SSI, TA, URBN, ZNGA

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 (CTL, CSCO, GRMN, GNRC, GFI, HAIN, HBAN, JCP, KGC, MWW, NTGR, GOLD, RIG, URBN, YNDX)

Jon C. Ogg — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 13:45:15 +0000

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

CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) cut to Hold from Buy at Argus, and downgraded by multiple analysts yesterday after lowering dividend.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) reiterated as Buy and raised target to $26 at Argus.

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) started as Outperform at William Blair.

Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC) cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Gold Fields Inc. (NYSE: GFI) cut to Neutral from Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) reiterated Buy but cut target to $72 from $77 at Argus.

Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN) cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) maintained Underperform with $15 target at Credit Suisse.

Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC) raised to Outperform with $11.50 price target at Credit Suisse.

Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) cut to Neutral at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Netgear Inc. (NASDAQ: NTGR) raised to Buy with $41 target at Stern Agee.

Randgold Resources Ltd. (NASDAQ: GOLD) cut to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup.

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) cut to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) cut to Market Perform at BMO.

Yandex N.V. (NASDAQ: YNDX) started as Overweight at Barclays.

Credit Suisse is out very positive on four key MLP stocks for investors looking for high dividends and distributions.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: CSCO, CTL, GFI, GNRC, gold, GRMN, HAIN, HBAN, JCP, KGC, MWW, NTGR, RIG, URBN, YNDX

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (AFL, BAC, CMA, DNKN, JCP, KEY, LYG, M, MET, MON, NFLX, PCG, RL, RYAAY, SON, SYY, TTM, URBN, DG, FDO)

Jon C. Ogg — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 13:33:41 +0000

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

AFLAC Inc. (NYSE: AFL) started as Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse on valuation in favor of other top banks (FULL RESEARCH SUMMARY).

Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.

Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DNKN) raised to Buy at Janney.

J.C. Penney Company Inc. (NYSE: JCP) cut to Neutral at Macquarie.

KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE: LYG) raised to Buy at UBS.

Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) cut to Neutral at Macquarie.

MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET) started as Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) reiterated Buy and raised target to $114 at Argus.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) maintained Underperform but raised target to $68 from $60 at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG) raised to Buy at Jefferies.

Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) raised to Outperform at Macquarie.

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: RYAAY) reiterated Buy and raised target (to 6.50 euro local currency) at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Sonoco Products Co. (NYSE: SON) cut to Underweight at J.P. Morgan.

Sysco Corp. (NYSE: SYY) cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.

Tata Motors Ltd. (NYSE: TTM) raised to Outperform with about 25% upside in local currency terms by Credit Suisse.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) raised to Neutral at Macquarie.

Dividend (or payout) investors look out: Credit Suisse made major changes to its master limited partnership sector outlook for 2013 with key upgrades and downgrades (FULL RESEARCH SUMMARY).

RBC Downgrades the dollar stores: Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) and Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) were both downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: AFL, BAC, CMA, DG, DNKN, FDO, JCP, KEY, LYG, M, MET, MON, NFLX, PCG, RL, RYAAY, SON, SYY, TTM, URBN

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — January 4, 2013: Markets Improve on Early Gains (AAPL, SKT, URBN, FSLR, JNJ, LULU, SONC, MOS, FINL, PSX, ALU, SVU, EGLE)

Paul Ausick — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 21:04:03 +0000

U.S. equity markets opened slightly higher this morning following the report that nonfarm payrolls had grown by 155,000, better than the expected growth of 150,000 (more coverage here). The December unemployment rate came in a 7.8%, flat with the revised figure for November, but below the expected rate of 7.7%. In Europe, non-manufacturing PMI data was release for the eurozone, and the reading for the entire group came in a 47.8, in line with expectations, but still indicating contraction. Retail sales were down year-over-year in Germany, but not by as much as estimated. In Asia, China’s non-manufacturing PMI fell slightly month-over-month and Australia’s reading fell from 47.1 to 42.3. U.S. equities rose early and remained in positive territory most of the day. The Nasdaq has posted the smallest gain following a report from Deutsche Bank that it does not expect Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) to meet quarterly sales estimates.

The U.S. dollar index rose 0.13% today, now at 80.484. The GSCI commodity index is down 0.4% at 650.05, with commodities prices mostly lower today. WTI crude oil closed up 0.2% today, at $93.09 a barrel, following a sharp decline in crude inventories (more coverage here). Brent crude trades down 1% at $111.18 a barrel. Natural gas is up 2.6% today at about $3.28 per million BTUs, following a slightly larger-than-expected draw on inventories (more coverage here). Gold settled down 1.5% today at $1,648.90 an ounce, and closed the week down 0.4%.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 44 points to 13,434.98 (0.33%), the NASDAQ rose about 1 point (0.04%) to 3,101.66, and the S&P 500 rose 0.48% or about 7 points to 1,466.41.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (NYSE: SKT) cut to ‘sell’ at Goldman Sachs; Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) raised to ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) cut to ‘underperform’ at Raymond James; Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) raised to ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank; and Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) cut to ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have resulted in these price changes for reporting companies as of the last half hour of trading today: Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC) is down 1.2% at $10.61; The Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) is up 3.8% at $58.93 (more coverage here); and Finish Line Inc. (NASDAQ: FINL) is down 10% at $17.14 after posting a new 52-week low of $17.12 earlier today (more coverage here).

Before markets open on Monday we are scheduled to get an earnings report from Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX).

Some standouts from today include the following stocks:

Supervalu Inc. (NYSE: SVU) is up 15.1% at $2.97. The supermarket chain is getting a bounce from a report that the company is nearing a deal with private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP to buy parts of the company.

Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (NASDAQ: EGLE) is up 27.2% at $2.29. The dry bulk shipper is leading a pack of competitors higher on expectations of an increase in iron ore shipments to China. More coverage here.

Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) is up 11.5% at $1.63. The network technology company got an upgrade yesterday and the company is expected to benefit from the increased demand for network capacity due to the rise of tablets and smartphone sales.

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

11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month Treasury bill auction
3:00 p.m. – Treasury STRIPS

Have a great weekend!

Paul Ausick

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, HI/LOW, Market Close Tagged: AAPL, ALU, EGLE, FINL, FSLR, JNJ, LULU, MOS, PSX, SKT, SONC, SVU, URBN

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (BK, CPHD, C, DOLE, FITB, FSLR, FSL, ILMN, JNJ, JPM, LULU, MSFT, SKT, TXT, UA, URBN, USB, WFC)

Jon C. Ogg — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 13:43:16 +0000

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

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Cepheid Inc. (NASDAQ: CPHD) cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) raised to Conviction Buy List with $49 target at Goldman Sachs.

Dole Food Co. Inc. (NYSE: DOLE) cut to Underperform at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) cut to Outperform at Raymond James.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) cut to Underperform at Raymond James.

Freescale Semiconductor Inc. (NYSE: FSL) cut to Neutral at J.P. Morgan.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray; cut to Neutral at Wedbush.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) maintained Buy but removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) cut to Hold at Argus, although this is still one of the DJIA with the most projected upside in 2013 by analysts.

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (NYSE: SKT) cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) raised to Outperform with $59 target at Credit Suisse.

Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Here are 12 stocks expected to rise 50% to 100% (or more) in 2013.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: BK, C, CPHD, DOLE, FITB, FSL, FSLR, ILMN, JNJ, JPM, LULU, MSFT, SKT, TXT, UA, URBN, USB, WFC

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ANF, ALGN, ACC, ARUN, FWLT, FTE, GPS, HMN, IR, KORS, MWW, PMT, RKUS, TWC, TUMI, URBN)

Jon C. Ogg — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 13:40:55 +0000

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

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Align Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN) started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

American Campus Communities Inc. (NYSE: ACC) reiterated Buy and raised estimates at Argus.

Aruba Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: ARUN) started as Neutral at J.P. Morgan and started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Foster Wheeler A.G. (NASDAQ: FWLT) cut to Neutral at Lazard.

France Telecom S.A. (NYSE: FTE) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) started as Buy with $41 target at Goldman Sachs.

Horace Mann Educators Corp. (NYSE: HMN) named as value stock of the day at Zacks.

Ingersoll Rand PLC (NYSE: IR) maintained Hold into spin-off at Argus, and maintained Outperform and raised target to $53 at Credit Suisse.

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) started with Conviction Buy rating and $75 target at Goldman Sachs.

Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE: PMT) raised to Outperform at KBW.

Ruckus Wireless Inc. (NYSE: RKUS) started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs, started as Outperform at Oppenheimer, started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley and started as Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) reiterated Buy and raised target by $15 to $115 at Argus.

Tumi Holdings Inc. (NYSE: TUMI) started with Conviction Buy rating and $30 target at Goldman Sachs.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Here are some other outlook pieces for the end of 2012 and 2013:

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 2013 Alternative Energy and Cleantech Outlook for 2013

JON C. OGG

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Analyst Calls Tagged: ACC, ALGN, ANF, ARUN, FTE, FWLT, GPS, HMN, IR, KORS, MWW, PMT, RKUS, TUMI, TWC, URBN

America’s Most Valuable CEOs

Douglas A. McIntyre — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:22:38 +0000

There is a nearly endless number of criteria that measure how well CEOs perform, whether they are paid fairly, and what metrics should be used for determining chief executive compensation. One yardstick that is never used but should be, is the simple ratio of market capitalization to pay. It takes into account the entire value of the company to shareholders and weighs it directly against annual compensation.

Read: America’s Most Valuable CEOs

Read: America’s Least Valuable CEOs

At the one end of the compensation to market cap ratio are relatively small companies that have very highly paid CEOs. At the other, the most famous example is Steve Jobs, who worked for $1 for a number of years while Apple grew to be the largest public corporation in the world based on market value.

There is something instructive in the Jobs example. As founder of Apple, he owned enough of its common shares to become uncommonly wealthy. Several of the chief executives on the Most Valuable CEO list fall into the same category of founders who continue to hold the top job at their companies and own very large equity stakes. On this list, the founders of Whole Foods, Costco, Urban Outfitters, and Amazon continue to run the companies they established. Each is paid very little but has a tremendous incentive, based on share ownership, to turn in strong results.

Alternatively, several of the companies on the Most Valuable CEO list are professional managers of huge public corporations. Each has been a reasonably good steward, and, at the very least, has kept a very large enterprise moving forward in what has been a choppy economy.

24/7 Wall St. identified the most valuable CEOs based on executive pay relative to company market cap. We reviewed the market cap and CEO compensation for every S&P 500 company as of Dec. 31, 2011. If a company’s stock performance did not meet or exceed that of the S&P 500 Index between December 30th, 2011 and November 12th, 2012 it was excluded.

These are America’s most valuable CEOs.

Filed under: Special Report Tagged: AMZN, AXP, BAC, BRK-A, C, COST, featured, GE, IBM, JPM, KO, MRK, T, URBN, WFC, WFM, WMT