Winners & Losers

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Monday's Winners & Losers

Mark Martinez

Shares of several rental-car companies took it on the chin Monday after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stocks to underweight from equal weight.

The firm cut Avis Budget Group(CAR Quote), Dollar Thrifty(DTG Quote) and Hertz(HTZ Quote), saying that travel is down and that fewer cars are being built for rental companies, which will make the cost of buying cars more expensive.

Avis closed down $1.92, or 6.5%, to $2756. Dollar Thrifty was down $2.40, or 5.7%, to $40.06, and Hertz was off 53 cents, or 2.1%, to $25.01.

Zoltek(ZOLT Quote) fell 3% after the carbon-fiber maker filed a $350 million mixed shelf registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The mixed shelf will consist of debt, stock, warrants and units.

Selling shareholders may sell up to $30 million of the total. Zoltek plans to use the proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including debt repayment. Shares closed down $1.24 to $40.41.

Shares of the Blackstone Group(BX Quote) settled down a day after the firm debuted on the NYSE. On Friday, the shares jumped 13% after the company priced its initial public offering. The stock today closed down $2.62, or 7.5%, to $32.44.

Pier 1 Imports (PIR Quote) rose 3.6% after UBS upgraded shares in the furniture chain to buy from neutral. The firm boosted its price target on the stock to $12 from $7.

UBS also trimmed its loss forecast for the company and now believes that Pier 1 will post a 2007 loss of 75 cents a share, down from its earlier forecast of $1.35 a share. Pier 1 closed up 30 cents to $8.61.

Shares of Omnicom(OMC Quote) rose 2.2% after Deutsche Bank upgraded the media services company to buy from hold.

Deutsche said the company is winning new business and that the 2008 Olympics should be a boon. The firm has a $118 price target on the company. Shares closed up $2.19 to $103.97.