Here is a list of this morning’s company upgrades, downgrades, and coverage initiations by Wall Street brokerage firms.
Analyst Upgrades:
- Merck (MRK) upgraded to Outperform at Leerink Swann
- Credit Suisse raises its price target on Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) to $60 from $55
- FBR Capital raises its price target on RadioShack (RSH) to $26 from $23…RSH upgraded to Outperform at Credit Suisse ; price target raised to $25 from $15
- Stifel N. raises it price target on BlackRock (BLK) to $248 from $224
- Banco Bilbao (BBV) upgraded to Add from Reduce at Natixis
- Northrop Grumman (NOC) upgraded to Buy at Jefferies ; price target riased to $62 from $55
- WMS Industries (WMS) upgraded to Buy at Goldman Sachs
- Trico Marine Services (TRMA) upgraded to Hold at Jefferies ; price target raised to $6 from $3
- Capital Senior (CSU) upgraded to Buy with a $7 price target at Stifel Nicolaus
- Questart (STR) upgraded to Buy at Goldman Sachs
- Shanda Interactive (SNDA) upgraded to Hold at Citigroup
- Astec Industires (ASTE) upgraded to Outperform at Robert W. Baird ; price target raised to $33 from $27
- Abercombie & Fitch (ANF) upgraded to Outperform at Credit Suisse ; price target raised to $49 from $30
- JA Solar (JASO) upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley
- Mirant (MIR) upgraded to Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets ; price target set at $14
- Adobe Systems (ADBE) upgraded to Buy at Goldman Sachs
- Hercules Offshore (HERO) upgraded to Outperform at Credit Suisse ; price target raised to $7 from $5
- Ariad Pharmaceuticals (ARIA) upgraded to Overweight at JP Morgan
- Medical Acition Industries (MDCI) upgraded to Buy at Roth Capital ; price target set at $15
- Macquire Infrastructure (MIC) upgraded to Outperform at Wells Fargo
- Petroleum Development (PETD) upgraded to Buy at SunTrust ; price target set at $24
- Abercrombie (ANF) upgraded to Conviction Buy list at Goldman Sachs
- Revlon (REV) upgraded to Outperform at BMO Capital ; price target set at $21
- East West Banc (EWBC) upgraded to Hold at Sandler O’Neill
- Blackstone Group (BX) upgraded to Outperform at Keefe Bruyette ; price target set at $18.50
- AstraZeneca (AZN) upgraded to Buy at RBS
- SandRidge Energy (SD) upgraded to Neutral at Goldman Sachs
- Pride International (PDE) upgraded to Buy at Jesup & Lamont ; price target set at $42
- Ameristar Casinos (ASCA) upgraded to Buy at Janney Montgomery Scott
- Energizer (ENR) upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley
- Salesforce.com (CRM) upgraded to Neutral at Goldman Sachs
- Capstead Mortgage (CMO) upgraded to Outperform at Keefe Bruyette ; price target set at $14
Analyst Downgrades:
- NV Energy (NVE) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Wunderlich ; price target set at $11
- Gap Inc. (GPS) downgraded to Equal Weight at Barclays
- Research in Motion (RIMM) downgraded to Neutral at Susquehanna Financial
- AstraZeneca (AZN) downgraded to Underweight at JP Morgan
- Intrepid Potash (IPI) downgraded to Sector Perform at RBC Capital
- Scripps Networks Interactive (SNI) downgraded to Hold from Buy ; price target set at $42
- VeriSign (VRSN) downgraded to Sell at Goldman Sachs
- Seneca Foods (SENEB) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank of America/Merrill
- EOG Resources (EOG) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs
- CardioNet (BEAT) downgraded to Hold at Brean Murray
- Red Hat Inc. (RHT) removed from Americas Buy list at Goldman Sachs
- Knology (KNOL) downgraded to Hold from Buy at BWS Financial
- Tenaris S.A. (TS) downgraded to Reduce at Natixis
- Lexmark (LXK) added to Conviction Sell list at Goldman Sachs
- Charles River Labs (CRL) downgraded to Equal Weight at Barclays
Coverage Initiated:
- BioSante Pharmaceuticals (BPAX) initiated with an Outperform and a $4 price target at Rodman & Renshaw
- Stone Energy (SGY) initiated with an Equal Weight at Barclays
- Nanosphere (NSPH) initiated with an Outperform at Leerink Swann
- Global Payments (GPN) initiated with a Buy at Bank of America/Merrill
- Select Medical (SEM) initiated with a Outperform at RBC Capital ; price target set at $13
- Silvercorp metals (SVM) initiated with an Outperform and a $7.50 price target at Rodman & Renshaw
- Veeco (VECO) initiated with an Overweight at Piper Jaffray
- Parker-Hannafin Corp. (PH) initiated with an Equal Weight at Barclays
- Telvent SA (TLVT) initiated with an Overweight at Piper Jaffray
On the news front this morning:
- An investor group led by General Atlantic LLC and affiliates of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. in partnership with the management team of TASC, Inc., (“TASC”), today announced the acquisition of TASC from Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) in a transaction valued at $1.65 billion. Upon closing of the transaction, TASC, which was founded in 1966 and generates approx. $1.6 billion in revenue, will be the nation’s most recognized independent provider of advanced systems engineering and technical assistance to the defense, intelligence, federal, state and local markets.
- The WSJ reports, Kraft Foods (KFT) is expected to officially launch a hostile bid today for Cadbury PLC (CBY) valued at roughly £10 billion ($16.59 billion), setting in motion a tussle for control of the famed British confectionary company. People familiar with the matter said Kraft planned to take its offer directly to Cadbury shareholders on Monday, when it faces a deadline from the U.K. Takeover Panel to either make a formal offer or back off for six months. It is unclear whether Kraft plans to maintain the cash-and-shares offer that Cadbury rejected in September or raise it modestly…Update: According to MW, Cadbury has advised its shareholders to reject a 9.8 billion pound ($16.5 billion) hostile takeover approach from Kraft Foods Inc. , saying the offer is “derisory” and represents a worse deal than when Kraft made its original approach in September.
- Dish Network Corp. (DISH) said Monday third-quarter net income fell 12%. The second-largest satellite TV provider in the U.S. saw its earnings come in $0.18 per share, $0.26 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.44. The co.’s profit totaled $92 million, down from $81 million a year ago. Revenue for the three months ended Sept. 30 edged down nearly 2% to $2.89 billion from $2.94 billion last year. Analysts consensus was for revenues of $2.93 billion.
- Compugen (CGEN) announced today the discovery and experimental confirmation of a genetic biomarker, CGEN-40001 for predisposition to type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes. This new biomarker was discovered using Compugen’s GeneVa platform, which consists of an in silico database of approximately 350,000 predicted genetic variations in the human genome, with each predicted variation consisting of multiple consecutive nucleotides.
- The Journal reports Sprint (S) and its partners are preparing to pump at least $1.5 billion more into Clearwire Corp. (CLWR), said two people familiar with the matter, adding yet more aid to a wireless broadband co. that has struggled to build out its next-generation network. Sprint would invest $1 billion and its Clearwire joint venture partners, a group which includes Comcast (CMCSA), Intel (INTC), Time Warner Cable (TWC) and Bright House Networks, would kick in another $500 million, said these people. Google (GOOG), which has been a key joint venture partner, isn’t involved in the latest financing round, these people added. An announcement of the new investment could come as soon as this week.
- The Journal reports the U.S. Treasury has blocked Fannie Mae’s (FNM) proposed sale of nearly $3 billion in low-income housing tax credits to Goldman Sachs (GS) and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) after concluding that the deal would lose too much money for taxpayers. The proposed sale would have resulted in a loss of tax revenues that would be greater than the savings to the federal government had it allowed the sale. “In short, withholding approval of the proposed sale affords more protection of the taxpayers than does providing approval,” an administration official said.
- FUQI International, Inc. (FUQI) today reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009. Results were well ahead of expectations with EPS coming in at $0.73, $0.29 above the $0.44 consensus. Revenue for the third quarter of 2009 increased 35.8% to $127.2 million (consensus was for revenue of $130.3 mln) from $93.7 million y/y. Gross profit in the third quarter of 2009 increased 172.0% to $29.9 million from $11.0 million for the same period in the prior year.
- According to Reuters, Morgan Stanley (MS) is looking to sell its 34% stake in investment bank China International Capital Corp, the U.S. bank’s China chief executive said on Monday. The deal could fetch more than $1.2 billion.
