Olive Garden, HBO and 'Words With Friends' Reasons for Upgrades

Time Warner (TWX), Zynga (ZNGA) and Darden Restaurants (DRI) are all upgraded in Tuesday's Analysts' Actions. Darden Restaurants, the parent company of Olive Garden was upgraded to BUY from HOLD at KeyBanc. The firm says the new menu will help reverse declines and went on to say they 'do not believe a national restaurant chain that serves 5,000 guests at stores weekly is 'broken' but was poorly managed by the previous CEO and COO.' The price target for Darden is set at $62. Zynga was raised to BUY from HOLD at Jefferies with the price target set at $4.50. The firm upgraded the online game developer citing potential in mobile games growth and the popularity of 'Words with Friends.' Time Warner was upgraded to BUY from HOLD at Goldman Sachs with a price target increase of $6 to $90 a share. Goldman says HBO is an under-appreciated asset and Time Warner's low sector exposure to the TV ad market is a competitive advantage.