AIG: Analysts' Upgrades, Downgrades

See who made what calls.

Author:: TSC Staff
Publish date:: Sep 11, 2009 10:00 AM EDT

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- CHANGE IN RATINGS

Adtran (ADTN) - Get Report upgraded at Morgan Keegan from Market Perform to Outperform. New partnership with ERIC should boost sales.

American International

(AIG) - Get Report

downgraded at Wells from Neutral to Underperform. Valuation call. Recent trading has been a mystery.

Allstate

(ALL) - Get Report

downgraded at Goldman from Neutral to Sell. Company is at risk to lose market share in auto insurance and the stock is up 104% since March.

AnnTaylor Stores

(ANN)

upgraded at FBR to Outperform. Missy consumer should drive growth and the company has its inventory and costs under control. $19 price target.

Best Buy

(BBY) - Get Report

target raised at Credit Suisse to $46. Company is positioned well for the second half of the year. Outperform rating.

Best Buy

(BBY) - Get Report

downgraded at Oppenheimer from Outperform to Perform. $44 price target. Sentiment may be too high, as better fundamental trends may not come until the February quarter.

Colgate-Palmolive

(CL) - Get Report

upgraded at Goldman from Neutral to Buy. $85 price target. Estimates are not pricing in new marketing support and gross margin should improve over the coming quarters.

Clorox

(CLX) - Get Report

downgraded at Goldman from Buy to Neutral. $66 price target. See limited upside, as high resin costs could limit the gross margin recovery.

Concur Tech

(CNQR)

upgraded at Wedbush Morgan from Underperform to Neutral. $35 price target. Recent acquisition should add to earnings.

Calpine

(CPN)

downgraded at Barclays. Rating lowered to Underweight from Equal Weight. Price target raised to $9.00 from $8.50. Maintains 2009 EPS estimates of $0.42.

Salesforce.com

(CRM) - Get Report

upgraded at Wedbush from Underperform to Neutral. $52 price target. Challenges are already factored into the stock.

Electronic Arts

( ERTS) downgraded at Merrill/BofA from Buy to Neutral. $19 price target. Strong first half will no longer offset second half weakness, based on recent NPD sales data.

Garmin

(GRMN) - Get Report

upgraded at Merrill/BofA from Underperform to Buy. $45 price target. Estimates also raised to reflect improving trends in the auto GPS segment.

Intel

(INTC) - Get Report

upgraded at Roth to Buy. $25 price target. Company should benefit from the upgrade cycle around Windows 7 and Snow Leopard.

Marvell Technology

(MRVL) - Get Report

upgraded at Roth to Buy. $22 price target. Company should benefit from the wireless and ethernet cycles, in addition to PC growth.

Netsuite

(N)

rated new Market Perform at Friedman, Billings Ramsey. $15 price target. Company is a market leader, but competition from SAP is on the horizon.

Plum Creek Timber

(PCL)

upgraded at Credit Suisse from Underperform to Neutral. $30 price target. Stock is no longer overvalued at current levels.

Progressive

(PGR) - Get Report

upgraded at Goldman to Buy. Company is most leveraged to potential rate increases in auto insurance.

Qwest

(Q)

upgraded at Weisel from Underweight to Market-weight.. Valuation call, based on a $4 price target.

RRI Energy

(RRI)

upgraded at Barclays. Ratings raised to Overweight from Equal Weight. Price target raised to $7.50 from $6.50. Maintains 2009 EPS estimates of -$0.80.

Smith International

( SII) downgraded at Goldman from Buy to Neutral. See less relative upside to earnings expectations. Company also trades at a 17% premium to its peers.

Schlumberger

(SLB) - Get Report

upgraded at Goldman from Neutral to Buy. $78 price target. Company should benefit from an eventual pickup in international spending.

Thermo Fisher

(TMO) - Get Report

rated new Overweight at Morgan Stanley. $53 price target. The company has a positive earnings trajectory and trades at a reasonable valuation.

STOCK COMMENTS / EPS CHANGES

Adobe Systems

(ADBE) - Get Report

target boosted at Merrill/BofA to $35. NPD data showed that the company gained market share in both sales channels. Neutral rating.

Conagra

(CAG) - Get Report

added to Top Picks list at Citigroup. Stock should react well to the upcoming Sept. 22 earnings report. Buy rating and $25 price target.

Caterpillar

(CAT) - Get Report

numbers raised at Morgan Stanley to $34. Estimates also boosted, as company dealer sales have held up better than competitive locations. Underweight rating.

Coach

(COH)

numbers raised at Barclays. Price target raised to $36 from $35. Fiscal 2010 EPS estimates raised to $1.90 from $1.85. Maintains Overweight rating.

Covidien

(COV)

numbers boosted at Merrill/BofA. Target was raised to $48. Estimates also increased, as the company held a positive analyst meeting this week, suggesting better core medical device sales. Buy rating.

CSX

(CSX) - Get Report

estimates cut, target raised at Merrill/BofA. Shares now seen reaching $53. On the other hand, estimates were lowered, because of lower yield targets. Buy rating.

Dominion Resources

(D) - Get Report

numbers raised at Barclays. Price target raised to $33 from $32. 2009 EPS estimates raised to $3.20 from $3.08. Maintains Equal Weight rating.

Forest Labs

(FRX)

estimates cut at Morgan Stanley through 2012. Lower Savella sales will weigh on earnings. Overweight rating and $31 price target.

Goldman Sachs

(GS) - Get Report

numbers raised at Citigroup through 2011. Company should benefit from strong capital markets activity and an improving deal pipeline. Buy rating and new $215 price target.

Hershey Foods

(HSY) - Get Report

estimates raised at Citigroup through 2010. Price points are moving higher in the second half. Buy rating and $48 price target.

Jones Apparel

(JNY)

numbers raised at Barclays. Price target raised to $17 from $15. 2009 EPS estimates raised to $0.90 from $0.85. Maintains Equal Weight rating.

Lululemon

(LULU) - Get Report

numbers boosted at Credit Suisse. Shares now seen reaching $19. Estimates also raised, to reflect higher realized sales and margins. Neutral rating.

Monsanto

(MON)

estimates reduced at Morgan Stanley through 2011. 2010 will be a difficult year for Roundup, but dips should be bought by investors. Overweight rating and $105 price target.

National Semiconductor

(NSM)

numbers raised at Goldman to $11. Estimates also boosted, to reflect higher expected sales. Sell rating.

National Semiconductor

(NSM)

target boosted at Merrill/BofA to $17. Company posted a strong quarter, but long-term sales growth may not be sustainable. Neutral rating.

Prudential

(PRU) - Get Report

estimates, target raised at Morgan Stanley. Shares of PRU now seen reaching $58. Estimates also boosted to reflect solid operating momentum, which could be further raised by an acquisition. Overweight rating.

Phillips-Van Heusen

(PVH) - Get Report

numbers raised at Barclays. Price target raised to $44 from $38. 2009 EPS estimates raised to $2.45 from $2.40. Maintains Overweight rating.

Reynolds American

(RAI)

numbers boosted at UBS to $43. Estimates also raised, because of execution issues at MO. Neutral rating.

RF Micro

(RFMD)

numbers raised at UBS. Shares of RFMD now seen reaching $5.50. Estimates also boosted, to reflect better end-market demand. Neutral rating.

Ralph Lauren

(RL) - Get Report

numbers raised at Barclays. Price target raised to $78 from $70. Fiscal 2010 EPS estimates raised to $3.75 from $3.60. Maintains Equal Weight rating.