Below is a list of analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations in Wall Street research calls this Wednesday morning with roughly half an hour until the market opens.
Analyst Upgrades:
- Rogers Communications (RCI) upgraded to Buy at Bank of America/Merrill
- Waters Corp. (WAT) upgraded to Outperform at Leerink Swann
- National Fuel Gas (NFG) upgraded to Equal Weight at Barclays Capital ; price target raised to $49 from $35
- Crane (CR) upgraded to Neutral at Bank of America/Merrill
- AK Steel (AKS) upgraded to Buy at Citigroup ; price target raised to $21 from $17
- OSI Systems (OSIS) upgraded to Outperform at Morgan Keegan
- Target (TGT) upgraded to Buy at Citigroup ; price target raised to $61 from $44. Citi’s reason behind upgrade is retailer’s same-store-sales and productivity improvements
- Motorola (MOT) upgraded to Outperform at RBC Capital
- Edward Lifesciences (EW) upgraded to Buy at Goldman Sachs
- LM Ericsson (ERIC) upgraded to Neutral at UBS
- Ceradyne (CRDN) upgraded to Market Perform at Wells Fargo
- Incyte (INCY) upgraded to Outperform at Cowen
- Parametric (PMTC) upgraded to Buy with a $19 price target at Needham
- DeVry (DV) upgraded to Outperform at Oppenheimer ; price target set at $65
- FormFactor (FORM) upgraded to Outperform at FBR Capital ; price target raised to $25 from $19
- First Busey Corp (BUSE) upgraded to Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette ; price target raised to $5 from $4
- G&K Services (GKSR) upgraded to Neutral at Robert W. Baird ; price target raised to $23 from $21
- Peet’s Coffee (PEET) upgraded to Buy with a $35 price target at Stifel
- Texas Instrument (TXN) upgraded to Buy at Goldman Sachs
- Exactech (EXAC) upgraded to Outperform at Robert W. Baird ; price target raised to $22 from $15
- Pennant Investment (PNNT) upgraded to Outperform at Keefe Bruyette ; price target raised to $9 from $8
- Amedysis Inc. (AMED) upgraded to Buy at Stifel ; price target set at $57
- BP (BP) upgraded to Neutral at Goldman Sachs
- Wynn Resorts (WYNN) upgraded to Outperform ; price target set at $73
Analyst Downgrades:
- SanDisk (SNDK) downgraded to Neutral at Goldman Sachs
- NuVasive Inc. (NUVA) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs
- BP (BP) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup
- Apollo Group (APOL) downgraded to Neutral at Bank of America/Merrill
- Liberty Property (LRY) downgraded to Market Perform at Wells Fargo
- IMS Health (RX) downgraded to Underperform at Bank of America/Merrill
- EV Energy (EVEP) downgraded to Perform at Oppenheimer
- Winn-Dixie (WINN) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Janney Montgomery Scott
- Illumina (ILMN) downgraded to Neutral at Robert W. Baird ; price target lowered to $35 from $41
- PacWest (PACW) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Soleil ; price target set at $19
- Intel (INTC) downgraded to Hold at Roth Capital ; price target lowered to $20 from $33
- Psychiatric Solutions (PSYS) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Soleil ; price target set at $22
- NVIDIA (NVDA) downgraded to Hold at Roth Capital ; price target lowered to $12 from $18
- Under Armour (UA) downgraded to Underperform at Needham
- Marvell (MRVL) downgraded to Hold at Roth Capital ; price target lowered to $15 from $22
- Apollo Group (APOL) downgraded to Underperform at RBC Capital
- Electro Optical Sciences (MELA) downgraded to Hold at Roth Capital ; price target raised to $12 from $9
- ValueClick (VCLK) downgraded to Neutral at Merriman
- U.S. Steel (X) downgraded to Hold from Buy at KeyBanc
- Switch & Data (SDXC) downgraded to Neutral at Merriman
Coverage Initiated:
- Vodafone PLC (VOD) initiated with an Equal Weight at Barclays Capital
- Kennametal (KMT) initiated with a Buy at Bank of America/Merrill
- France Telecom (FTE) initiated with an Equal Weight at Barclays Capital
- Smithfield Foods (SFD) is restarted with an Underperform at Bank of America/Merrill
- Portugal Telecom (PT) initiated with an Underweight at Barclays Capital
- BT Group PLC (BT) initiated with an Overweight at Barclays Capital
- Tyson Foods (TSN) is restarted with a Buy at Bank of America/Merrill
- Deutsche Telekom (DT) initiated with an Overweight at Barclays Capital
- Regency Centers (REG) initiated with an Underperform at Morgan Keegan
- Archer Daniels (ADM) is restarted with a Buy at Bank of America/Merrill
- Kite Realty (KRG) initiated with a Underperform at Morgan Keegan
- Telefonica (TEF) initiated with an Overweight at Barclays
- Post Properties (PPS) initiated with a Underperform at Morgan Keegan
- Ciena (CIEN) initiated with a Buy and a $17.50 price target at Citigroup
- Inland Real Estate (IRC) initiated with a Market Perform at Morgan Keegan
- Infinera (INFN) initiated with a Hold and a $9.50 price target at Citigroup
- Home Prop of NY (HME) initiated with a Market Perform at Morgan Keegan
- Range Resources (RRC) initiated with a Overweight at Thomas Weisel
- Equity Res (EQR) initiated with a Market Perform at Morgan Keegan
- J. Crew (JCG) initiated with a Buy and a $52 price target at MKM Partners
- AvalonBay (AVB) initiated with a Market Perform at Morgan Keegan
- UDR Inc (UDR) initiated with a Market Perform at Morgan Keegan
- Essex Property (ESS) initiated with a Market Perform at Morgan Keegan
- Hellenic (OTE) initiated with an Overweight at Barclays
- Camden Property (CPT) initiated with an Outperform at Morgan Keegan
- Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT) initiated with an Outperform at Morgan Keegan
- BRE Properties (BRE) initiated with an Outperform at Morgan Keegan
- American Campus Communities (ACC) initiated with an Outperform at Morgan Keegan
- Cyclacel Pharma (CYCC) initiated with a Buy at Merriman
On the news front this morning:
- The WSJ reports one of the technology industry’s highest-profile executives has become ensnared in an alleged insider-trading case that is shaking the corporate and financial worlds. A criminal case filed by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office earlier this month alleged that an unnamed Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) executive shared confidential information about the chip maker with a defendant in the case. The AMD executive is Hector Ruiz, then AMD’s chairman and previously chief executive, according to a person familiar with the matter. The involvement of Mr. Ruiz adds the biggest name yet to the case, in which Raj Rajaratnam, co-founder of the hedge-fund co Galleon Group, and five others including Ms. Chiesi face federal criminal and civil charges.
- MarketWatch reports Europe’s biggest drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said Wednesday that its third-quarter attributable profit rose to 1.34 billion pounds ($2.19 billion), from 1.0 billion pounds last year. Sales increased to 6.76 billion pounds, from 5.88 billion pounds a year ago. Analysts had been expecting profit of 1.19 billion pounds on sales of 6.76 billion pounds, according to data compiled by Dow Jones Newswires.
- The WSJ reports U.S. House and Senate lawmakers are proposing to extend temporary higher limits on the size of home mortgages Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) can buy or guarantee as part of a stopgap funding legislation that could pass Congress as soon as this week. The legislation, known as a continuing resolution, would fund the federal government through Dec. 18 at 2009 levels, giving lawmakers more time to complete appropriations measures. Language in the bill would also extend the loan limits, which are set to expire Dec. 31, through the end of next year, the top Democratic appropriators, Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii and Rep. David Obey of Wisconsin, said in a press release late Tuesday.
- MarketWatch reports PetroChina Co. (PTR), China’s largest listed oil company by output, said Wednesday its net income for the third quarter totaled 30.85 billion yuan ($4.51 billion), a drop of 23% from 40.31 billion yuan a year earlier, according newswire reports which cited a statement filed by the company with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
- General Dynamics (GD) said in a statement today the co. reported 2009 third-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $575 million, or $1.48 per share on a fully diluted basis, compared to 2008 third-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $634 million, or $1.59 per share fully diluted. Revenues rose to $7.7 billion in the quarter, an 8.1% increase over third-quarter 2008 revenues of $7.1 billion. Net earnings in the third quarter of 2009 were $572 million.
- Reuters reports Lazard (LAZ) posted a higher-than-expected third-quarter profit on Wednesday behind strong restructuring and asset management results.The investment bank reported net income of $37.4 million, or 41 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier net loss of $77 million, or $1.17 per share.
