Wednesday's Analysts' Upgrades and Downgrades
CHANGE IN RATINGS
Arris
(ARRS) - Get Report
upgraded at CIBC to Outperform. $14 price target. Stock has been oversold, despite uncertain second half outlook.
Biogen Idec
(BIIB) - Get Report
downgraded at Weisel from Overweight to Market-weight. Stock has reached the $82 price target, and see little upside given takeover possibilities.
BMC Software
(BMC)
downgraded at Bear Stearns from Peer Perform to Underperform. Valuation call. Core sales could also be weak, following IBM's guidance last night.
CNA Financial
(CNA) - Get Report
upgraded at Merrill from Neutral to Buy. Stock is down 25% from June highs, and 7% below the projected year-end book value. Also expect higher dividends. $48 price target.
Cablevision
(CVC)
downgraded at Citigroup from Hold to Sell. Don't expect the Dolan offer to go through. $33 price target.
Eaton
(ETN) - Get Report
upgraded at Merrill to Buy. $110 price target. Estimates also raised, as the truck recovery should accelerate through 2008. Tax rate should also remain favorable.
Gentiva Health Services
(GTIV)
upgraded at Jefferies to Buy rating from Hold. Price target lifts to $22 from $20.50 and FY2008 EPS estimates hold at $1.14.
Lincare Holdings
(LNCR)
upgraded at Jefferies to Buy rating from Hold. Price target lifts to $40 from $37 and FY2008 EPS estimates upped to $2.94 from $2.90.
Level 3
(LVLT)
downgraded at Cowen from Outperform to Neutral. Estimates also cut, as acquisitions are taking longer to integrate.
Paccar
(PCAR) - Get Report
downgraded at Wachovia from Market Perform to Underperform. Consensus estimate likely too optimistic, because of lower North American truck demand.
Robbins & Myers
(RBN)
downgraded at FBR to a Market Perform rating as stock is trading at premium to peer group following Q4 results.
Sonic
(SONC)
downgraded at Merrill to Neutral. Stock has reached $26 price target, and negative traffic trends could weigh on near-term restaurant margins.
Tibco Software
(TIBX)
downgraded at Bear Stearns from Peer Perform to Underperform. Valuation call. Also concerned about core sales, following IBM's software guidance last night.
Teekay Shipping
(TK) - Get Report
initiated at Morgan Stanley with an equalweight rating.
UST
(UST) - Get Report
upgraded at Goldman Sachs to Buy from Neutral based on better earnings expectations and valuation. Believe market is mispricing shares due to overly severe concern over increased competition. See company increasing return to shareholders with another dividend increase and step-up in the share buyback program. Maintained Buy rating.
ValueClick
(VCLK)
downgraded at Oppenheimer to Neutral. $27 price target. Company cut guidance, and it's too early to become confident about the lead generation business.
ValueClick 2007 estimates cut at Credit Suisse to 72 cents from 75 cents after company lowered its full-year outlook. Believes buyback and strong cash position should limit near-term downside. Maintained Outperform rating.
US Steel
(X) - Get Report
upgraded at Deutsche to Buy. 2008 estimate boosted to $13 a share, to reflect rising steel prices. New $130 price target.
STOCK COMMENTS / EPS CHANGES
Delta Airlines
(DAL) - Get Report
numbers raised at UBS. Price target lifts to $23 from $21 and FY2008 EPS estimates upped to $1.80 from $1.61. Reiterates Neutral rating.
H&R Block
(HRB) - Get Report
numbers raised at UBS. Price target lifts to $26 from $25 and FY2008 EPS estimates upped to $1.40 from $1.35. Reiterates Buy rating.
Intel
(INTC) - Get Report
numbers raised at Jefferies. Price target lifts to $31 from $29 and FY2008 EPS estimates upped to $1.55 from $1.38. Reiterates Buy rating.
Intel price target raised at Goldman to $30 from $28 based on solid Q3 results. Slight EPS upside was driven by higher sales and lower taxes, but Q4 sales and margin guidance was far ahead of the Street's estimates. Maintained Buy rating.
Pharmaceutical Product Dev.
(PPDI)
target raised at FBR from $41 to $46 to reflect 2008 estimates. Q3 bookings should improve and partnering efforts nearing fruition. Maintained Outperform rating.
Seagate
(STX) - Get Report
2008 estimates raised at Credit Suisse to $2.58 from $2.32 after company posted strong Q1 results. Raised target price to $30 from $28 and maintained Outperform rating.
Seagate 2008 estimates increased at Goldman to $2.67 from $2.54 following solid quarterly results and higher guidance. See opportunity to push gross margin above 25% next quarter as company optimizes mix as well as leveraging supply tightness heading into year-end to negotiate beneficial multi-quarter deals with OEMs. Price target raised to $31 from $30 and reiterated Buy rating.
Yahoo!
(YHOO)
numbers raised at Jefferies. Price target lifts to $35 from $34 and FY2008 EPS estimates upped to $0.57 from $0.55. Reiterates Buy rating.
Yahoo! 2007 estimates raised at Deutsche Bank by 2 cents to 44 cents a share following encouraging Q3. Maintained Hold rating.