Below is a list of analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations in Wall Street research calls this Monday morning with roughly half an hour until the market opens.
Analyst Upgrades:
- Zions Bancorp (ZION) upgraded to Buy at Soleil ; price target set at $17.50
- FirstService (FSRV) upgraded to Outperform at RBC Capital Markets
- China Telecom (CHA) upgraded to Neutral at Credit Suisse
- THQ Inc. (THQI) upgraded to Neutral at Wedbush Morgan ; price target lowered to $6 from $7
- Eclipsys Corporation (ECLP) upgraded to Hold at Jefferies & Co
- Qwest (Q) upgraded to Neutral at Piper Jaffray ; firm maintains their $4 target
- NII Holdings Inc. (NIHD) upgraded to Buy at Goldman Sachs
- Keithley Instruments Inc. (KEI) upgraded to Overweight at Thomas Weisel
- Rigel Pharmceuticals (RIGL) upgraded to Outperform at RBC Capital Markets
- Silver Wheaton (SLW) upgraded to Outperform at RBC Capital Markets
- Nasdaq OMX Group (NDAQ) upgraded to Buy at Goldman Sachs
- AmerisourceBergen (ABC) upgraded to Market Perform at Bernstein ; price target raised to $24 from $21
- DR Horton (DHI) upgraded to Hold at Citigroup ; price target lowered to $10.50 from $10.75
- J.M Smucker (SJM) upgraded to Overweight at JP Morgan ; price target raised to $65 from $59
- Evercore Partners (EVR) upgraded Buy at Goldman Sachs
- Rodman & Renshaw raise their price target on Hecla Mining (HL) to $8 from $6.25
- Starbucks (SBUX) upgraded to Buy at Jefferies & Co. ; price target raised to $25 from $22
- WellPoint (WLP) upgraded to Overweight a JP Morgan
- Met-Pro Corp (MPR) upgraded to Buy at Brean Murray ; price target set at $12
- Deere (DE) upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley ; price target raised to $64 from $48
- Ann Taylor (ANN) upgraded to Overweight at Thomas Weisel ; price target raised to $18 from $16
- Cogent Communications (CCOI) upgraded to Outperform at Wells Fargo
- MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MKTX) upgraded Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs
- Penn Virginia (PVA) upgraded to Buy at Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey ; price target set at $25
- New Alliance Bcshrs (NAL) upgraded to Outperform at FBR Capital ; price target set at $13
- Schlumberger (SLB) upgraded to Outperform at Credit Suisse
Analyst Downgrades:
- Oppenheimer lowers its price target on PharMerica (PMC) to $14 from $17
- Western Gas Partners (WES) downgraded to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley
- Knight Capital Group (NITE) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs
- Hibbett Sports (HIBB) downgraded to Neutral at JP Morgan
- Ciena Corp. (CIEN) downgraded to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan ; firm values the stock $9-$12.60
- Jefferies Group (JEF) downgraded to Sell at Goldman Sachs
- Credit Suisse lowers its price target on Weatherford International (WFT) to $21 from $23
Coverage Initiated:
- Genesee & Wyoming (GWR) initiated with a Neutral at JP Morgan
- American Express (AXP) initiated with an Overweight and a $51 price target at Morgan Stanley
- Vitamin Shoppe (VSI) initiated with a Buy at Pali Research
- Enterprise GP Holdings LP (EPE) initiated with an Overweight at Morgan Stanley ; price target set at $43
- Cameco (CCJ) initiated with a Market Perform at Raymond James
- RailAmerica (RA) initiated with a Buy at Citigroup ; price target set at $16
- Oshkosh Truck (OSK) initiated with a Neutral at JP Morgan
- Lear (LEA) resumed with a Buy and an $85 price target at Bank of America/Merrill
- Wonder Auto Tech (WATG) initiated with a Buy and a $15 price target at Jefferies & Co
- Colony Financial (CLNY) initiated with a Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette ; price target set at $19.50
- Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD) resumed with an Equal Weight at MOrgan Stanley ; price target set at $31
- CreXus Investment (CXS) initiated with a Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette ; price target set at $14.50
- RailAmerica (RA) initiated with an Overweight at JP Morgan ; price target set at $18
On the news front this morning:
- The WSJ reports News Corp. (NWS) has held discussions with Microsoft (MSFT) about a partnership that could result in News Corp. removing its newspaper content from Google’s (GOOG) search engine while continuing to feature it on Microsoft’s online properties, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks are still at a very early stage and may not result in a deal, according to these people. Among the most thorny issues, one of these people said, are the terms under which Microsoft would compensate News Corp., if at all, to feature its news content, which ranges from The Wall Street Journal to the Sun of the U.K.
- Merck & Co. (MRK) said Monday that a district court judge in Travis County, Texas, has granted the company’s motion for summary judgment, dismissing all claims in a Vioxx-related lawsuit filed on behalf of the state. That case, filed in 2005 by the Texas attorney general’s office, sought damages and penalties from Merck for alleged violations of the Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act.
- Reuters reports Kraft (KFT) may raise its offer for Cadbury (CBY) or offer more cash in its bid if rival takeover offers emerge, a source familiar with the situation said on Sunday. Kraft could keep its bid unchanged if no rival bidders emerged, however, the source said. Kraft “made an offer to start the process,” the source said, who declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak with the media. Kraft “never said that was its final offer,” said the source.
- Bloomberg.com reports Nestle is weighing options including a possible bid for Cadbury (CBY) that would challenge Kraft’s (KFT) offer and a potential move by Hershey (HSY), according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Nestle is reviewing its options with bankers and may decide against a bid, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.
- Noah Education Holdings Ltd. (NED), a leading provider of interactive educational content and education services in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2009. Net revenue for the quarter increased by 17.8% to RMB238.2 million (US$34.9 million), compared with RMB202.2 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2009, exceeding the co.’s previously stated guidance of RMB231 million to RMB237 million. Gross profit increased by 16.1% to RMB117.5 million (US$17.2 million), representing a gross margin of 49.3%, compared with gross profit of RMB101.2 million, or a gross margin of 50.1%, in the first quarter of fiscal 2009.
- Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (GMCR) today confirmed that it has submitted a proposal to acquire Diedrich Coffee, Inc. (DDRX) for $30.00 per share in cash pursuant to a cash tender offer, in a transaction with a total enterprise value of approximately $247 million.
- Ciena Corp. (CIEN) will buy the optical networking and carrier ethernet business of bankrupt Nortel for $769 million, the two companies said Monday. The offer consists of $530 million in cash and $239 million in convertible notes.
