Below is a list of analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations in Wall Street research calls this Tuesday morning with roughly 30 minutes until the market opens.
Analyst Upgrades:
- Kinross Gold (KGC) upgraded to Overweight at JP Morgan ; price target set at $24
- Kaufman raises its price target on CSG Systems (CSGS) to $22 from $20
- BB&T Corp (BBT) upgraded to Buy at Citigroup
- Pali research raises its price target on Focus Media (FMCN) to $16 from $11.50
- CPFL Energia (CPL) upgraded to Outperform at Raymond James
- Wedbush raises its price target on Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings (ENDP) to $24 from $22.50
- Cabot Corp. (CBT) upgraded to Buy at KeyBanc Capital Markets ; price target set at $29
- Fifth Third (FITB) upgraded to Buy at Citigroup
- Sunpower (SPWRA) upgraded to Outperform at Pacific Crest
- PSS World Medical Inc. (PSSI) upgraded to Outperform at Raymond James ; price target set at $23
- Limited Brands Inc. (LTD) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Soleil ; price target set at $15.50
- BostonPrivate Financial (BPFH) upgraded to Buy at Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey ; price target set at $6.50
- Clearwire (CLWR) upgraded to Neutral at UBS on funding
- Watsco (WSO) upgraded to Neutral at Piper Jaffray ; price target raised to $51 from $50
- Mentor Graphics (MENT) upgraded to Overweight at JP Morgan ; price target raised to $10.50 from $9
- Mattson (MTSN) upgraded to Outperform at Oppenheimer ; price target raised to $4 from $3
Analyst Downgrades:
- Netflix (NFLX) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merriman
- Abbott Labs (ABT) removed from Conviction Buy list at Goldman Sachs ; firms keeps however, its Buy rating on the co.
- NuVasive (NUVA) downgraded to Market Perform at JMP Securities
- Eli Lilly (LLY) removed from Conviction Sell List at Goldman Sachs ; firm maintains its Sell rating on the co.
Coverage Initiated:
- Itron (ITRI) initiated with an Equal Weight and a $65 target at Barclays Capital
- Banco Santander (BSBR) initiated with an Overweight at Morgan Stanley
- Teradata (TDC) initiated with a Buy at Bank of America/Merrill
- Novavax (NVAX) initiated with an Overweight and a $4.50 price target at Piper Jaffray
- Adobe Systems (ADBE) initiated with a Hold at JMP Securities ; price target set at $46
- Monstanto Co. (MON) initiated with a Sell at Ticonderoga Securities ; price target set at $68
- Alpha Natural Resources (ANR) initiated with a Buy and a $50 target at Bankf of America/Merrill
- SourceFire (FIRE) initiated with a Buy at Lazard Capital Markets ; price target set at $26
- Check Point Software (CHKP) initiated with a Buy at ThinkEquity
- Chesapeake Energy (CHK) resumed with a Buy and a $31 target at Stifel Nicolaus
- Cyberonics (CYBX) initiated with a Neutral and $17 target at Robert W. Baird
- Omeros (OMER) initiated with a Buy and a $10 target at Needham
- Boeing (BA) initiated with an Underweight and $45 target at HSBC Securities
- EnCana Corp. (ECA) resumed with an Overweight at Barclays
- Perrigo (PRGO) initiated with a Outperform at RBC Capital Markets ; price target set at $50
- DemandTec, Inc. (DMAN) initiated with a Hold at Lazard Capital Markets
- Esco Tech (ESE) initiated with an Buy at Needham ; price target set at $38
- Abovenet (ABVT) initiated with an Buy at Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey ; price target set at $65
- Cabot Oil & Gas (COG) resumed with a Buy and a $47 target at Stifel Nicolaus
- Cavium Networks (CAVM) initiated with a Hold at Kaufman Bros ; price target set at $22
- E-House (EJ) China resumed with a Outperform at Credit Suisse
- ArcSight, Inc. (ARST) initiated with a Hold at Lazard Capital Markets
- AGA Medical (AGAM) initiated with a Buy at Bank of America/Merrill
- Standard Microsystems Corp. (SMSC) initiated with a Buy and a price target of $23 at at Kaufman Bros
- PetroQuest Energy Inc. (PQ) resumed with a Buy and a $8.50 target at Stifel Nicolaus
- Websense (WBSN) initiated with a Buy at Lazard
- Ceva Inc. (CEVA) initiated with a Hold at Brigantine Advisors
- Volterra Semi (VLTR) initiated with a Buy and a price target of $20 at Kaufman Bros
On the news front this morning:
- Gold trades to a new time high, in electronic trade, printing above $1200.
- Bloomberg reports Dubai World began talks with banks to restructure $26 billion of debt, including $3.5 billion owed by property unit Nakheel, and said the remainder of its liabilities are on “a stable financial footing.” Debt from subsidiaries including Infinity World Holding, Istithmar World and Ports & Free Zone World will be excluded from the negotiations, Dubai World, one of the emirate’s three main state-related holding companies, said in a statement.
- MW reports Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX) said on Tuesday it has completed the elimination of all of its gold hedges and now has full leverage to the gold price on the industry’s largest gold production and reserves
- The WSJ reports General Electric (GE) has hammered out a tentative agreement to buy partner Vivendi SA’s minority stake in NBC Universal for $5.8 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, setting up a deal that would give control of NBC Universal to Comcast (CMCSA). GE, which owns 80% of NBC Universal, reached an agreement after its chief executive, Jeffrey Immelt, held face-to-face negotiations in Paris with Vivendi Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy last week, the people said. The two sides reached a verbal agreement on the major deal elements over the weekend and were documenting the final details Monday, said these people.
- AIG (AIG) said Tuesday that it has lowered the amount of money it owes to the US government by $25 billion following a move of two subsidiaries into special holding units ahead of their expected sales. The US government will receive $25 billion worth of preferreds in the two companies, American Life Insurance Co. and American International Assurance Co., both of which are life insurance firms.
