NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) are down 0.94% to $44.30 in pre-market trading today as Canaccord Genuity downgraded the company to "hold" from "buy" and lowered its price target to $47 from $50.

"We maintain our belief Broadcom is well positioned for steady long-term mid-to-high single digit growth in its core Broadband & Connectivity and Infrastructure and Networking businesses now clear of the wireless baseband headwinds," analysts said.

With solid core business fundamentals, a recent $1 billion addition to the buyback authorization, a 17% increase to the dividend, and a new focus to lower the diluted share count, analysts continue to see the potential for gradual stock appreciation with the broader semiconductor sector.

However, with "considerable good news" reflected in the stock price, recent "worrisome" FX movements, and the potential for "very tough" year-over-year connectivity business comparables with top customers including Apple (AAPL) - Get Report in 2015, Canaccord Genuity believes other stocks in their coverage universe have more opportunity for upside over the next year. 

Broadcom is an Irvine, CA-based global semiconductor solution company for wired and wireless communications. Broadcom products deliver voice, video, data and multimedia connectivity in the home, office and mobile environment. The company provides system-on-a-chip (SoC), and software solutions.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates BROADCOM CORP as a Buy with a ratings score of A-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate BROADCOM CORP (BRCM) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income, revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and good cash flow from operations. Although the company may harbor some minor weaknesses, we feel they are unlikely to have a significant impact on results."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• BROADCOM CORP reported significant earnings per share improvement in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past year. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, BROADCOM CORP increased its bottom line by earning $1.08 versus $0.74 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($2.79 versus $1.08).
• The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment industry. The net income increased by 132.1% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from $168.00 million to $390.00 million.
• Despite its growing revenue, the company underperformed as compared with the industry average of 10.7%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 3.8%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
• BRCM's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.18 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels. Along with this, the company maintains a quick ratio of 2.85, which clearly demonstrates the ability to cover short-term cash needs.
• Net operating cash flow has significantly increased by 61.89% to $633.00 million when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, BROADCOM CORP has also vastly surpassed the industry average cash flow growth rate of -15.77%.
• You can view the full analysis from the report here: BRCM Ratings Report