Today’s list of analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations in Wall Street research calls with roughly 30 minutes until the opening bell.
Analyst Upgrades:
- FBR Capital raises its price target on J. Crew Group (JCG) to $47 from $39 following co. guidance
- Valero Energy (VLO) upgraded to Overweight at Barclays Capital
- Washington Federal (WFSL) upgraded to Outperform at Keefe Bruyette ; price target raised to $21 from $16
- Rodman & Renshaw raise their price target on Range Resources (RRC) to $70 from $63
- Rubicon Technology (RBCN) upgraded to Buy at UBS
- Quicksilver (KWK) upgraded to Buy at SMH Capital
- NII Holdings (NIHD) upgraded to Neutral at Bank of America/Merrill
- PNC Bank (PNC) upgraded to Outperform at Wells Fargo…PNC price target upped to $50 from $43 at FBR Capital
- Harvest Natural (HNR) upgraded to Accumulate at SMH Capital
- Healthways (HWAY) upgraded to Buy at Jefferies ; price target raised to $20 from $15
- ATP Oil & Gas (ATPG) upgraded to Accumulate from Neutral at SMH Capital
- Cardinal Financial (CFNL) upgraded to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus ; price target set at $10
- Petrohawk Energy (HK) upgraded to Buy at SMH Capital
- Medicis (MRX) upgraded to Overweight at Thomas Weisel
- Amazon.com (AMZN) upgraded to Outperform at FBR Capital ; price target raised to $130 from $95…AMZN upgraded also at Barclays with an Overweight
- Brigham Exploration (BEXP) upgraded to Accumulate from Neutral at SMH Capital
- Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO) upgraded to Neutral at JP Morgan ; price target raised to $5.50 from $5.00
- LaSalle Hotel (LHO) upgraded to Outperform at FBR Capital ; price target raised to $23 from $13
- Morgan Joseph raises its price target on Bally Technologies (BYI) to $57 from $47
- Range Resources (RRC) upgraded to Neutral at SMH Capital
- Logitech (LOGI) upgraded to Buy at UBS
- Itron (ITRI) upgraded to Buy at Deutsche Securities ; price target raised to $70 from $50
- Tenneco (TEN) upgraded to Outperform at Credit Suisse ; price target set at $19
- ENSCO International (ESV) upgraded to Hold at Jesup & Lamont
- Diamond Offshore (DO) upgraded to Buy at Jesup & Lamont ; price target set at $126 following co.’s strong Q3 results
- Encore Acquisition (EAC) upgraded to Accumulate from Neutral at SMH Capital
- Eagle Bancorp (EGBN) upgraded to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus
- Rightnow Tech (RNOW) upgraded to Outperform at William Blair
- LM Ericsson (ERIC) upgraded to Buy at Goldman Sachs
- Core Laboratories (CLB) upgraded to Buy at Wunderlich ; price target set at $140
- DISH Network (DISH) added to US Focus List at Credit Suisse
- Leg Mason (LM) upgraded to Neutral at Credit Suisse
- Energy XXI (EXXI) upgraded to Accumulate from Neutral at SMH Capital
- Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) upgraded to Buy at Goldman Sachs
- Lattice Semiconductor Corp. (LSCC) upgraded to Outperform at Northland Securities ; price target raised to $3.25
Analyst Downgrades:
- Riverbed Technology (RVBD) downgraded to Sell at Auriga
- CyberSource (CYBS) downgraded to Reduce at SunTrust
- Switch & Data (SDXC) downgraded to Hold at Jefferies & Co ; price target raised to $19 from $17
- Interactive Brokers (IBKR) downgraded to Neutral at Pali Research
- Charles River Laboratories (CRL) downgraded to Neutral at Baird ; price target is set at $42 based on valuation
- IberiaBank (IBKC) downgraded to Neutral at B. Riley
- CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) downgraded to Hold at Brean Murray
- Potash (POT) downgraded to Sector Perform at CIBC
- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) downgraded to Hold at Jefferies & Co
- ENI SpA (E) downgraded to Neutral at UBS
- Chubb (CB) downgraded to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus
- Carrizo Oil & Gas (CRZO) downgraded to Accumulate at SMH Capital
- Medicis (MRX) downgraded to Market Perform at Bernstein
- Chubb (CB) downgraded to Neutral at Bank of America/Merrill ; price target raised to $58 from $56
Coverage Initiated:
- Leap Wireless (LEAP) initiated with a Neutral and a $15 price target at Credit Suisse
- Ares Capital (ARCC) initiated with a Buy and a $12 price target at Citigroup
- Vodafone (VOD) initiated with a Buy at ING Group
- MetroPCS (PCS) initiated with an Underperform and a $4 price target at Credit Suisse
- Stericycle (SRCL) resumed with a Buy at Goldman Sachs
- Vistaprint (VPRT) initiated with a Buy and a $60 price target at Kaufman Bros
- First Energy (FE) initiated with a Buy and a $56 price target at Citigroup
- Meredith (MDP) initiated with a Buy and a $43 price target at Roth Capital
- Verizon (VZ) initiated with an Outperform and a $32 price target at Credit Suisse
- Mueller Water Products (MWA) initiated with a Neutral and a $6 price target at Bank of America/Merrill
- ConocoPhillips (COP) initiated with a Hold at Soleil
- Whole Foods (WFMI) initiated with an Outperform at Cowen
- PPL Corp. (PPL) initiated with a Buy at Citigroup ; price target set at $35
- Waste Management (WM) initiated with a Neutral at Goldman Sachs
- Hain Celestial (HAIN) initiated with an Outperform at Cowen
- Petroleum Development (PETD) initiated with a Neutral at JP Morgan
- Allegheny Energy (AYE) initiated with a Buy and a $33 price target at Citigroup
- Republic Services (RSG) initiated with a Neutral at Goldman Sachs
- Sprint (S) initiated with a $4 price target at Credit Suisse
- Exxon Mobil (XOM) initiated with a Buy and a $90 price target at Soleil
- Clean Harbors (CLH) initiated with a Neutral at Goldman Sachs
- Chevron (CVX) initiated with a Buy and a $105 price target at Soleil
- United Natural Foods (UNFI) initiated with a Neutral at Cowen
- AT&T (T) initiated with a Neutral and a $27 price target at Credit Suisse
- Arrow Electronics (ARW) initiated with a Buy at UBS
- UBS initiates Molex (MOLX) with a Neutral ; price target set at $23
- Corrections Corporation (CXW) initiated with a Buy and a $30 price target at Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey
- Marathon Oil (MRO) initiated with a Hold and a $40 price target at Soleil
On the news front this morning:
- The WSJ reports Amazon.com (AMZN) posted a 69% increase in third-quarter profit. The Seattle-based online retailer said its income for the quarter increased to $199 million, or 45 cents a share, from $118 million, or 27 cents a share, a year ago. Sales surged 28% to $5.45 billion. Amazon forecast fourth-quarter sales would grow between 21% and 35% to between $8.1 billion and $9.1 billion, with operating income projected to rise between 10% and 56% to $300 million to $425 million.
- Bloomberg news reports Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) posted a smaller drop in profit than analysts estimated after slashing costs to make up for falling sales. The stock rose as much as 8.7 percent in early trading. First-quarter net income fell to $3.57 billion, or 40 cents a share, beating the 32-cent average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Revenue, excluding $1.47 billion deferred to a future quarter, was $12.9 billion, Microsoft said today in a statement.
- AP reports Schlumberger (SLB) 3Q tumbled. The co. reported net income of $787 million, or 65 cents per share. Schlumberger’s revenue fell 25 percent compared with the year-ago quarter, to $5.43 billion. That missed analyst estimates of $5.48 billion.
- T. Rowe Price Group Inc.’s (TROW) 3Q profit fell 13%. The co. reported a profit of $132.4 million, or 50 cents a share, down from $152.4 million, or 56 cents a share, on a y/y basis. Net revenue decreased 10% to $498.1 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters (TRI) forecast earnings of 46 cents on revenue of $496 million.
