These are the top pre-market analyst upgrades and downgrades in Wall Street research calls this Monday morning:
Analyst Upgrades:
- Ladish (LDSH) upgraded to Outperform at FBR Capital ; price target set at $14
- Sprint Nextel (S) upgraded to Outperform at Credit Suisse ; price target raised to $6 from $4
- IberiaBank (IBKC) upgraded to Buy at B. Riley
- FBR Capital raises its price target on Agilent Technologies (A) to $31 from $26
- Eagle Bulk Shipping (EGLE) upgraded to Hold at Deutsche Securities ; price target set at $4.50
- JP Morgan adds U.S. Steel (X) to Focus List
- Renasant Corp. (RNST) upgraded to Buy at B. Riley
- Nordstrom (JWN) upgraded to Buy at Goldman Sachs
- Suntech (STP) upgraded Neutral at HSBC
- Tower Group (TWGP) upgraded to Outperform at Keefe Bruyette ; price target raised to $32 from $31
- FBR Capital raises its price target on RadioSachk (RSH) to $29 from $26
- Yingli Greene Energy (YGE) upgraded to Buy at Janney Montgomery Scott
- Carrizo Oil & Gas (CRZO) upgraded to Buy at Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey ; price target set at $31
- Genco Shipping & Trading (GNK) upgraded to Buy at Deutsche Bank ; price target raised to $31 from $24
- FPL Group (FPL) upgraded to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley
- Am Superconductor (AMSC) upgraded to Strong Buy at Raymond James
- AK Steel (AKS) added to JP Morgan’s Focus List
- Sandy Spring Banc (SASR) upgraded to Outperform at Robert W. Baird ; price target lowered to $13 from $14
- Maguire Properties (MPG) upgraded to Hold at Stifel
- Senior Housing (SNH) upgraded to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus ; price target set at $23
- Ann Taylor (ANN) upgraded to Buy at Jesup & Lamont ; price target set at $17
- Kaufman raises its price target on Concur Tech (CNQR) to $42 from $40
- United Rentals (URI) upgraded to Outperform at Oppenheimer ; price target set at $14
- Wisconsin Energy (WEC) upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley
- JMP Securities raise their price target on Hibernia Corp. (HIB) to $22 from $20
- Ventas (VTR) upgraded to Buy at Stifel ; price target set at $44
- JMP Securities raise their price target on Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) to $29 from $25
- Auriga raises its price target on Equinix (EQIX) to $106 from $86
- GLG Partners (GLG) upgraded to Outperform at Keefe Bruyette ; price target raised to $4.25 from $3.50
- Euroseas, Ltd. (ESEA) upgraded to Buy at Deutsche Securities ; price target set at $5
- Nationwide Health (NHP) upgraded to Buy at Stifel ; price target set at $36
- Illinois Tool Works (ITW) upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley ; price target raised to $58 from $56
Analyst Downgrades:
- Cadence Pharmaceuticals (CADX) downgraded to Perform at Oppenheimer
- Shire Plc (SHPGY) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Lazard Capital
- JC Penney (JCP) downgraded to Sell at Goldman Sachs
- Kendle Int’l Corp. (KNDL) downgraded to Sell at Goldman Sachs
- JP Morgan removes Nucor (NUE) from its Focus List
- Omega Health (OHI) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel
- ZAGG Incorporated (ZAGG) downgraded to Neutral at Merriman
- Dollar Tree (DLTR) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs
Coverage Initiated:
- Dell (DELL) resumed to Buy at Goldman Sachs
- Bank of Montreal (BMO) initiated with an Equal Weight at Barclays
- Lear Corporation (LEA) resumed with a Buy at Deutsche Bank ; price target set at $77
- Canadian Imperial bank (CM) initiated with an Equal Weight at Barclays
- Seahawk Drilling (HAWK) initiated with a Hold and a $30 price target at Deutsche Bank
- FBR Capital Market (FBCM) initiated with a Buy at Sandler O’Neill ; price target set at $9
- SYNNEX Corp. (SNX) initiated with a Buy at a $35 price target at Bank of America/Merrill
- PacWest Bancorp (PACW) initiated with a Buy at Sandler O’Neill ; price target set at $19
- Royal Bank of Canada (RY) initiated with an Underweight at Barclays
- Thoratec Corp. (THOR) initiated with a Outperform and a price target of $36 at Barrington Research
- Verisk Analytics (VRSK) initiated with a Market Perform and a price target of $29 at Keefe Bruyette
- Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) initiated with a Buy at Deutsche Bank
- Tech Data (TECD) initiated with a Neutral and a price target of $45 at Bank of America/Merrill
- Research In Motion (RIMM) initiated with a Hold at Auriga U.S.A. ; price target set at $66
- Novartis AG (NVS) initiated with a Buy Deutsche Bank
- Ingram Micro (IM) initiated with a Neutral and a $20 price target at Bank of America/Merrill
- Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) initiated with an Underweight at Barclays
- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) initiated with a Hold at Deutsche Bank
- Trian Solar (TSL) initiated with an Overweight at HSBC
- AstraZeneca (AZN) initiated with a Hold at Deutsche Bank
- Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) initiated with an Overweight at Barclays
On the news front this morning:
- Reuters reports Citigroup Inc (C) said on Sunday it has agreed to sell its stake in Japanese telemarketer Bellsystem24 to U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital for $1 billion. Bain has been widely expected to buy Bellsystem24 after securing exclusive negotiation rights earlier this month.
- Bloomberg reports General Motors Co., signaling confidence in its recovery from bankruptcy, said it generated $3.3 billion in cash in the third quarter and plans to start repaying government loans early. The biggest U.S. automaker said today it lost $1.15 billion after its July 10 exit from a restructuring engineered by the Obama administration. Cash on hand totaled $42.6 billion at the end of the quarter, and GM reported progress in cutting jobs and shutting dealers.
- U.S. home improvement chain Lowe’s (LOW) said it posted a 30% decline in profits during the 2nd quarter. The co. saw its Net fall to $344 million, or 23 cents per share, in the third quarter ended on October 30 from $488 million, or 33 cents per share, a year earlier. Sales fell 3% to $11.37 billion, slightly better than expectations of $11.28 billion.
- Reuters reports Hitachi (HIT) will raise up to $4.6 billion to shore up its capital. Hitachi, which is headed for its fourth straight annual loss, said it will raise up to 416 billion yen after fees, issuing 318 billion yen worth of shares and convertible bonds worth 100 billion yen. The Monday announcement came as its shares headed for their biggest single-day slide in six months after sources told Reuters about the public stock issue, Hitachi’s first in 27 years.
