AIG: Analysts' Upgrades, Downgrades

See who made what calls.

Author:: TSC Staff
Publish date:: Sep 1, 2009 9:37 AM EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- CHANGE IN RATINGS

Aetna (AET) downgraded at Leerink Swann from Outperform to Market Perform. Valuation call, as the group will struggle to grow in the near term.

American International

(AIG) - Get Report

downgraded at Bernstein from Market Perform to Underperform. $10 price target. Valuation call, as the fundamentals have not changed in recent weeks.

Alexion

(ALXN) - Get Report

upgraded at Citi to Buy and raised the price target to $55 from $45. 2009 and 2010 EPS estimates set at $0.85 and $1.27, respectively.

Central European Media

(CETV) - Get Report

downgraded at Morgan Joseph from Buy to Hold. Valuation call, as the stock has rebounded sharply since earnings.

Coach

(COH)

upgraded at Merrill/BofA from Neutral to Buy as lower-priced strategy should improve margins. Price target raised from $28 to $36. 2010 and 2011 EPS estimates set at $1.86 and $2.09, respectively.

Darden Restaurants

(DRI) - Get Report

rated new Buy at Stifel Nicolaus. $41 price target. Focus on the higher quality, high-growth names in the space.

Health Net

(HNT)

upgraded at Stifel from Hold to Buy. $20 price target. Company can exceed near-term earnings expectations.

Intersil

(ISIL)

upgraded at Oppenheimer from Perform to Outperform. $20 price target. Estimates also raised, to reflect higher end-market demand.

Labcorp

(LH) - Get Report

downgraded at Leerink Swann from Outperform to Market Perform. Valuation call, as growth should slow down heading into 2010.

Lockheed Martin

(LMT) - Get Report

upgraded at Citi to Buy from Hold largely based on valuation. Price target lifted to $90 from $87.

Motorola

( MOT) upgraded at Credit Suisse from Neutral to Outperform. $9.50 price target. Sum-of-the-parts appears to be worth greater than the current price.

Marvel Entertainment

( MVL) downgraded at JP Morgan. Rating lowered to Neutral from Overweight. Price target raised to $50 from $42. Maintains 2009 EPS estimates of $1.30.

Southern Copper

( PCU) initiated at Credit Suisse on PCU with an Underperform rating. Price target raised from $14 to $26.50. 2009 and 2010 EPS estimates set at $0.90 and $1.58, respectively.

Qualcomm

(QCOM) - Get Report

downgraded at Credit Suisse from Outperform to Neutral. $50 price target. Estimates raised because of handset growth, but see limited upside potential for the stock.

Research in Motion

( RIMM) upgraded at Credit Suisse from Neutral to Outperform. $95 price target. Estimates also raised, to reflect expected continued growth in the smartphone market.

Raytheon

(RTN) - Get Report

downgraded at Citi to Hold from Buy on relative value. Stock's outperformance leaves Lockheed looking more appealing, said Citi.

Textron

(TXT) - Get Report

upgraded at Morgan Stanley to Overweight from Underweight. Value of Textron Finance more favorable than the market's, said Morgan Stanley. Price target boosted to $25. 2009 and 2010 EPS estimates set at -$0.07 and $0.52, respectively.

Viacom

(VIA.B)

rated new Market-weight at Weisel. $28 price target. Stock is already discounting a rebound in the advertising markets.

STOCK COMMENTS / EPS CHANGES

Baker Hughes

(BHI)

target lowered at FBR to $65. BJS deal adds risk to the model. Outperform rating.

Cardinal Health

(CAH) - Get Report

price target slashed at Goldman to $27 from $36 following the completion of CareFusion spin-off. 2010 and 2011 EPS estimates set at $1.99 and $2.24, respectively. Reiterate Neutral rating.

Coastal Energy

(CEN) - Get Report

numbers lifted at Thomas Weisel. 2009 EPS estimate lowered to $0.86 from $0.92 while 2010 increased to $1.53 from $1.44. Maintain Overweight rating and $4.50 price target.

Cigna

(CI) - Get Report

price target raised at UBS to $34 from $29. 2009 and 2010 EPS estimates set at $3.75 and $4.00, respectively. Maintain Buy rating.

Delphi Financial

( DFG) target raised, estimates cut at FBR. Shares now seen reaching $30. On the other hand, estimates were cut to reflect dilution from the recent equity raise. Outperform rating.

DreamWorks

(DWA)

price target, estimates boosted at UBS from $28 to $34 as stronger library and M&A enthusiasm drive higher targets. 2009 and 2010 EPS increased to $1.59 and $2.20 from $1.54 and $2.10, respectively. Reiterate Neutral rating.

Fairchild Semiconductor

(FCS)

numbers boosted at FBR through 2010. Channel checks suggest that demand is building and that inventory is lean. Outperform rating and new $15 price target.

ITT Corp

(ITT) - Get Report

estimates, price target boosted at Merrill/BofA. Price target up from $51 to $61 following strong 2Q earnings. 2009/2010/2011 EPS estimates raised to $3.70/$4.05/$4.35 from $3.35/$3.65/$4.00, respectively. Reiterate Buy rating.

Jones Apparel Group

(JNY)

price target increased at Goldman to $17.50 from $14 following 2Q earnings. 2009 and 2010 EPS estimates set at $0.90 and $1.11, respectively. Maintain Neutral rating.

PSS World Medical

( PSSI) numbers raised at Barclays to $22 from $21. Greater visibility around physician volume trends, said Barclays. 2011 EPS estimate lifted to $1.35 from $1.34. Maintain 2010 EPS estimate at $1.17. Reiterate Overweight rating.

Pioneer Natural Resources

(PXD) - Get Report

target raised at FBR to $35. Company is paying down debt can generate solid returns into 2010. Market Perform rating.

Fibria

( VCP) price target raised Credit Suisse to $14 from $9 on higher long-term pulp prices. 2009 and 2010 EPS estimates set at $1.21 and $0.38, respectively. Maintain Underperform rating.

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