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Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: MET, COST, WAG, CAG...

 Oct 03, 2008 04:50 PM UTC
Return Risk
+0.00% N/A
Tracked Blogger
Symbol Sentiment Start Return Closed
XEL n/a
CAG n/a
TRMB n/a
XRTX n/a
FCEL n/a
MNT n/a
BNI n/a
SBCF n/a
WAG n/a
SPNC n/a
HWAY n/a
MET n/a
SGP n/a
BTUI n/a
PLL n/a
LYG n/a
COST n/a
TJX n/a
MXB n/a
VM n/a
WDC n/a

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Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Analyst initiations

Analyst upgrades:

  • Keefe Bruyette upgraded MetLife (NYSE: MET) to Outperform from Market Perform as they believe the company's capital and liquidity profile are very solid relative to this week's sell-off.

  • The firm also upgraded shares of MSCI (NYSE: MXB) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation as they believe near-term challenges are already priced into shares.

  • Burlington Northern (NYSE: BNI) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan based on valuation and strong pricing outlook.

  • Costco (NASDAQ: COST) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.

  • Pali Capital lifted Virgin Mobile (NYSE: VM) to Neutral from Sell.

  • Merrill upgraded Pall (NYS: PLL) and Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) to buy from Neutral.


Analyst downgrades:

  • Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Trimble Navigation (NASDAQ: TRMB) to Perform from Outperform as they believe the company's Engineering and Construction division is facing a challenging period due to the credit market strain.

  • Stephens downgraded Seacoast Banking (SBCF) to Underweight from Equal Weight as they believe a dilutive capital raise is possible given future losses from real estate credits in coastal Florida.

  • Friedman Billings cut Xyratex (XRTX) to Market Perform from outperform at lowered its target to $13 to reflect credit concerns and risk of Western Digital (WDC) reducing orders after the potential acquisition of Fujitsu operations.

  • Walgreen (WAG) was lowered to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

  • Schering-Plough (SGP) was downgraded at Merrill Lynch to Underperform from Buy.

  • Lloyds TSB Group (LYG) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Societe Generale.


Analyst initiations:

  • Janney Montgomery believes FuelCell Energy's (FCEL) products are reaching an inflection point where it will be able to see a path to positive gross margins. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $8 target.

  • Jefferies initiated TJX Companies (TJX) with a Buy rating and $38 target and believes the company's off-price business model offers a strong value proposition to price-sensitive consumers.

  • Kaufman Bros. believes BTU International (BTUI) will transition to a major equipment supplier for the thin-film and crystalline solar cell sector; shares were assumed with a Buy rating and $14 target.

  • Spectranetics (SPNC) was initiated at Caris with an Average rating and $5 target.

  • Healthways (HWAY) was started with a Hold rating at Deutsche Bank.

  • ConAgra (CAG) and Mentor (MNT) were initiated with Neutral ratings and a $21 target and $26 target, respectively, at UBS.

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