Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BAC, AEO, GOOG, X, BIDZ ...

Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Google (GOOG), Bank of America (BAC), Analyst initiations

• Baird upgraded Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to Outperform from Neutral citing valuation and long-term earnings power.


• Keefe Bruyette upgraded shares of Nationwide Financial (NYSE: NFS) to Outperform from Market Perform as it believes the deal is not at risk and will close at the agreed upon $52.25 price.
  


• Friedman Billings upgraded American Eagle (NYSE: AEO) to Outperform from Market Perform citing valuation.


• Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Natixis.


• W.W. Grainger (NYSE: GWW) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at RW Baird.


• Fidelity National (NYSE: FIS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at SunTrust.

• Credit Suisse downgraded Eli Lilly NYSE:(LLY) to Neutral from Outperform citing the increased risk profile from the ImClone (IMCL) deal.


• Soleil downgraded Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) to Hold from Buy as it believes Google's cost management may lag revenue weakness and that the falling stock price implies employee defections. The firm lowered its target to $350 from $580.


• Piper downgraded shares of Orbitz (NYSE:OWW) to Sell from Neutral to reflect deteriorating travel industry fundamentals and the company's levered balance sheet.
  


• US Steel (NYSE:X) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman.


• Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at ING Group.


• Lamar Advertising (NASDAQ:LAMR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Soleil.


• Cemex (NYSE:CX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
  

• Bidz.com (NASDAQ:BIDZ), American Superconductor (NASDAQ:AMSC) and Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSH) were today's noteworthy initiations:
  


• Bidz.com (NASDAQ:BIDZ) was initiated with a Hold at Stamford, as the firm does not want to recommend a company that has never been tested during difficult economic times, but is positive on BIDZ's growth potential.


• American Superconductor (NASDAQ:AMSC) was initiated with a Hold at Stanford, as the firm believes the Euro decline and global market turmoil are near-term risks.


• Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSH) was initiated with an Underperform at RBC Capital, as the firm views shares as overvalued.


• Regis Corp (NYSE:RGS) was initiated with a Neutral at RW Baird.


• CommVault's (NASDAQ:CVLT) coverage was resumed with a Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

 

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