Friday's Analysts' Upgrades, Downgrades

See who made what calls.
By TSC Staff ,

Change in Ratings

Abercrombie & Fitch

(ANF) - Get Report

downgraded at JPMorgan from overweight to neutral. Consensus analyst estimates may be too high, as the company lacks potential catalysts to turn same-store sales around.

BlackRock

(BLK) - Get Report

downgraded at Goldman to neutral from buy. Cites the stock has essentially reached its target price of $225 and no longer sees favorable risk/reward compared to several peers.

Comverge

(COMV)

rated new buy at Goldman. Cites company breaking into profitability as its biggest catalyst. Sets $16 target price.

Diamond Offshore

(DO) - Get Report

upgraded at JPMorgan from neutral to overweight. Company has the best exposure to U.S. Gulf deepwater demand, and little exposure to international jackups.

Ensco

(ESV)

downgraded at Citigroup from buy to hold. Latest rig status report shows troubling trends on the international rig side. $77 price target.

General Electric

(GE) - Get Report

downgraded at Credit Suisse from outperform to neutral. Company posted poor earnings, on financial services weakness and lower infrastructure margins. Estimates also cut. $41 price target.

Garmin

(GRMN) - Get Report

downgraded at Oppenheimer. Rating lowered to perform from outperform. 2008 EPS estimates lowered to $4.03 from $4.68. Price target was removed.

Johnson Controls

(JCI) - Get Report

downgraded at JPMorgan from overweight to neutral. Seeing sharply declining leading indicators, which could leader to lower North American automotive demand. Estimates also cut, as currency benefits will only have a minor impact.

MedcoHealth Solutions

(MHS)

upgraded at Credit Suisse to outperform from neutral. 2008 EPS estimates raised to $2.33 from $2.30. Maintains $58 price target.

Rost Stores

(ROST) - Get Report

upgraded at JPMorgan from neutral to overweight. Recent business momentum could continue and drive earnings upside. Company also running on lean inventories, and could use higher free cash flow to buy back more stock.

Valspar

(VAL) - Get Report

downgraded at JPMorgan from overweight to neutral. Broad weakness in construction markets could weigh on near-term results. 2008 earnings estimate also trimmed to $1.65 a share.

Stock Comments/EPS Changes

Genentech

(DNA)

estimates lowered at Jefferies to $3.42 from $3.53. Maintains hold rating and $78 price target.

Johnson & Johnson

(JNJ) - Get Report

estimates raised at UBS to $4.46 from $4.43. Maintains buy rating and $77 price target.

Knight Transportation

(KNX) - Get Report

numbers lowered at UBS to 71 cents from 87 cents. Price target lowered to $19 from $21. Maintains buy rating.

Kohls

(KSS) - Get Report

estimates lowered at Jefferies to $2.95 from $3.15. Maintains $45.50 price target and hold rating.

Target

(TGT) - Get Report

numbers lowered at Jefferies. Fiscal 2009 EPS estimates lowered to $3.36 from $3.51. Price target lowered to $52 from $54. Maintains hold rating.

Walmart

(WMT) - Get Report

numbers raised at Jefferies. Fiscal 2009 EPS estimates raised to $3.48 from $3.47. Price target raised to $63 from $58. Maintains buy rating.

This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.com.

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