JPMorgan Downgrades Coca-Cola Enterprises

NEW YORK (AP) — A JPMorgan analyst on Friday downgraded bottler Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. to "Neutral" from "Overweight," saying most of the stock's upside has been captured already.

Analyst John Faucher said the firm had been watching for higher sales volume in North America, margin improvement from lower commodity costs and an easing of "public" tension with Coca-Cola.

"We think all three of these are firmly understood by the market," he said, so that any rise in the share price will be more tempered going forward.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Enterprises is Coca-Cola's biggest bottler. Coke, also based in Atlanta, is the world's biggest drinks maker.

Faucher's downgrade comes two days after a Goldman Sachs analyst, Judy Hong, added the bottler to its "Conviction Buy" list, to capture any benefit from a resurgence in demand for carbonated soft drinks.

Since roughly October, Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc., the two biggest soda makers, refocused their marketing on soft drinks. Sodas had fallen out of favor because of health concerns, but the recession made them more attractive than bottled water and juice drinks as consumers looked for ways to save.