These are the top pre-market analyst upgrades and downgrades in Wall Street research calls this Thursday morning:
Analyst Upgrades:
- Transmontaigne Partners (TLP) upgraded to Buy at Wunderlich ; price target set at $26.50
- NASDAQ (NDAQ) upgraded to Positive at Susquehanna Financial
- HSBC Holdings (HBC) upgraded to Buy at Societe Generale
- Vail Resorts (MTN) upgraded to Outperform at Macquarie
- Consolidated Water (CWCO) upgraded to Buy at Janney Montgomery Scott
- PAETEC Holding (PAET) upgraded to Outperform at Raymond James
- Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) gets its price target raised to $61 from $51 at RBC following 3Com Corp.’s (COMS) acquisition
- Elizabeth Arden (RDEN) upgraded to Buy at Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey ; price target set at $20
- FirstMerit Corp (FMER) upgraded to Buy at FTN Equity
- Aeropostale (ARO) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs
- Phase Forward (PFWD) upgraded to Buy at UBS
- Clear Channel Outdoor (CCO) upgraded to Hold at Benchmark ; price target raised to $8 from $5
- China Cast Education (CAST) assumed with a Buy at Brean Murray ; price target raised to $10 from $8
- CSX Corp (CSX) upgraded to Equal Weight at Barclays Capital
- Ternium S.A. (TX) upgraded to Buy at Citigroup
- Cbeyond Comms (PAET) upgraded to Outperform at Raymond James
- Mobile TeleSystems (MBT) upgraded to Buy at UBS
- Redwood Trust (RWT) upgraded to Market Perform at JMP Securities ; price target set at $16.50
Analyst Downgrades:
- Brocade (BRCD) downgraded to Neutral at Piper Jaffray ; price target lowered to $9 from $10
- Nu Skin (NUS) downgraded to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus
- RHI Entertainment (RHIE) downgraded to Underweight at Thomas Weisel
- Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI) downgraded to Underweight at Barclays Capital ; price target raised to $100 from $90
Coverage Initiated:
- Merit Medical (MMSI) initiated with an Overweight at Thomas Weisel
- Cimarex (XEC) initiated with a Buy and a price target of $59 at Lazard
- Novo Nordisk (NVO) initiated with an Overweight at Barclays
- FLIR Systems (FLIR) initiated with a Buy and a price target of $35 at Dougherty & Co.
- HHGregg (HGG) initiated with an Overweight at Thomas Weisel
- Chesapeake Energy (CHK) initiated with a Buy and a price target of $36 at Lazard
- Abbott Labs (ABT) initiated with a outperform at Wedbush Morgan ; price target set at $62
- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) initiated with an Equal Weight at Barclays Capital
- Quicksilver Resources (KWK) initiated with a Buy and a price target of $20 at Lazard
- Merck (MRK) initiated with an Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley
- Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) initiated with an Overweight and a price target of $56 at Barclays
- Concho Resources (CXO) initiated with a Buy and a price target of $51 at Lazard
- The Buckle (BKE) initiated with a Sell at Goldman Sachs ; price target set at $27
- Cabot Oil & Gas (COG) initiated with a Buy and a price target of $48 at Lazard
- Medtronic (MDT) initiated with a Neutral at Wedbush Morgan ; price target set at $42
- AstraZeneca (AZN) initiated with an Equal Weight at Barclays Capital
- Novartis AG (NVS) initiated with an Underweight and a $48 price target at Barclays Capital
- Boston Scientific (BSX) initiated with a Neutral and an $8 price target at Wedbush Morgan
- Whiting petroleum (WLL) initiated with a Buy and a price target of $79 at Lazard
- Tiffany & Co (TIF) initiated with a Hold at Jesup & Lamont
- NBTY Inc. (NTY) initiated with a Buy at Bank of America/Merrill
- Coach (COH) initiated with an Hold at KeyBanc Capital Markets
On the news front this morning:
- United Technologies Corp. (UTX) today announced it has reached an agreement to purchase the GE Security business from GE (GE) for $1.82 billion. The closing is pending regulatory approvals. GE Security, part of GE Technology Infrastructure, supplies security and life safety technologies through a broad product portfolio for commercial and residential applications that include fire detection and life safety systems, intrusion alarms, and video surveillance and access control systems.
- Wal-Mart (WMT) reported third-quarter results of $0.84 per share, $0.03 better than the First Call consensus of $0.81. The profit of the world’s largest retailer rose 3.2%, helped by inventory management. Net income increased to $3.24 billion from $3.14 billion, or 80 cents, y/y, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said today in a statement.
- FT reports up to 14% of the co’s share register is estimated by brokers to be controlled by hedge funds that are betting Kraft (KFT) will raise its $16.2 billion offer for the UK confectioner Cadbury (CBY), increasing the likelihood that its hostile bid will succeed. Brokers predict that towards the end of the bid battle, so-called merger arbitrageurs could own more than a quarter of Cadbury’s stock, potentially shifting the outcome of the deal in Kraft’s favor. “The more trades arbs put on this deal, the better it is for Kraft because these guys just want a quick payday,” said one merger arbitrage trader at a London hedge fund.
- Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) on Wednesday agreed to buy 3Com (COMS) for $2.7 billion in cash. The 3Com purchase would make HP, the top computer maker, number two in the market for networking gear, which is Cisco’s (CSCO) core business. The $7.90 per share price agreed by both boards is a 39% premium to 3Com’s Wednesday’s closing price of $5.69.
- MarketWatch reports Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) said Thursday that it has reached an agreement with Intel Corp. (INTC) to end their legal disputes, including antitrust litigation and patent cross-license disputes. AMD and Intel will have a new five-year cross license agreement under terms of the settlement, and Intel will pay AMD $1.25 billion.
