Thursday's Analysts' Upgrades and Downgrades
CHANGE IN RATINGS
Alcon
(ACL)
upgraded at Goldman Sachs to Buy from Neutral based on near-term opportunity in lens care market and solid long-term fundamentals. See opportunities for increasing market share after recall of Advanced Medical Optics' Complete MoisturePlus. Price target raised to $150 from $145.
CNA Financial
(CNA) - Get Report
downgraded at Credit Suisse to Underperform from Neutral. Believes stock is overvalued after recent performance. Maintained $46 target price.
Capital One Financial
(COF) - Get Report
upgraded at FBR to Outperform from Market Perform. Upgrade driven by significantly greater-than-expected cost savings from the restructuring initiative. Price target raised to $96 from $80.
Cisco
(CSCO) - Get Report
upgraded at Merrill Lynch from Neutral to Buy. $31 price target. Stock was also added to the US 1 list, as the company's strong business trends are sustaining. Also see upside to consensus estimates.
Digital River
(DRIV) - Get Report
downgraded at Jefferies to Hold rating from Buy. Price target drops to $44 from $55 and FY 2008 EPS estimates lowered to $2.20 from $2.51.
Digital River target price cut at Credit Suisse to $43 from $61 after company announced that Q2 earnings would fall short of estimates. Maintained Neutral rating.
Intel
(INTC) - Get Report
upgraded at Lehman Brothers to Overweight from Equal Weight. After a lackluster first half of the year, traction behind seasonal lift appears encouraging. Price target raised to $28 from $24.
Itron
(ITRI) - Get Report
initiated with Neutral rating at UBS. Price target starts at $82 and FY 2008 EPS estimates set at $3.45.
Liz Claiborne
(LIZ)
upgraded at Credit Suisse to Outperform from Neutral based on belief that management will announce new strategic directive in the coming weeks. Raised target price to $45 from $37.
Portfolio Recovery
(PRAA) - Get Report
upgraded at Jefferies to Buy rating from Hold. Price target jumps to $68 from $50 and FY 2008 EPS estimates raised to $3.66 from $3.60.
Sprint Nextel
(S) - Get Report
downgraded at Citigroup from Buy to Hold. $25 price target. Lower marketing costs will be diluted by slower marketing growth. Estimates also cut. T and VZ offer better values at current levels.
Starbucks
(SBUX) - Get Report
upgraded at Thomas Weisel Partners to Overweight from Market Weight. The stock price, along with management's expectations, more than accounts for the challenging consumer environment and rising operating costs. $34 price target
EW Scripps
(SSP) - Get Report
upgraded at JP Morgan from Neutral to Overweight. Upfront CPM pricing is improving, and the company should be able to leverage its excess free cash.
Stryker
(SYK) - Get Report
downgraded at Goldman Sachs to Neutral from Buy based on valuation and greater opportunity in ACL. Shares of SYK up 58% over last 12 months. See 20% EPS growth in 2007 but more difficult sales comps. Maintained $70 price target.
Tyco Electronics
(TELWI)
initiated at UBS with Neutral rating. Price target starts at $43 and FY 2008 EPS estimates set at $2.34.
STOCK COMMENTS / EPS CHANGES
CBS
(CBS) - Get Report
price target raised at UBS to $40 from $38 on positive syndication forecasts. Reiterates Buy rating.
CommScope
(CTV) - Get Report
numbers raised at Jefferies. Price target jumps to $65 from $54.50 and FY 2008 EPS estimates raised to $2.65 from $2.60. Reiterates Buy rating.
LSI
(LSI) - Get Report
2007 estimates slashed at Goldman to $0.00 from $0.17, based on continuing broad weakness in sales and lowered guidance. Management lowered Q2 sales range to $650-$670 from $715-$745. Price target lowered to $9.50 from $10.50. Maintained Neutral rating.
STRATEGY CALLS / MARKET CALLS
JP Morgan changes ratings on Airline Stocks: It upgraded ALK and LUV from Underweight to Neutral, based on valuation. CAL and UAUA also raised to Overweight from Underweight. On the other hand, SKYW was cut to Underweight and RJET to Neutral. Finally, AMR and LCC were raised from Neutral to Overweight.
