Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: RHT, AMZN, DLM, BHP, RTP

Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Amazon.com (AMZN), Schlumberger Limited (SLB), Red Hat Inc (RHT), Analyst initiations, YRC Worldwide (YRCW), BHP Billiton Ltd ADR (BHP), Rio Tinto plc ADS (RTP)

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Red Hat (NYSE:RHT) to Buy from Hold after their checks indicated Red Hat's November quarter results will be in-line due to solid Jboss sales. The firm also believes a potential new partnership with Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) could provide share upside.
  


• Barclays upgraded Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) to Overweight from Equal Weight as they believe the company's competitive position will strengthen during the current downturn and that the company will gain share.


• JP Morgan upgraded YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ:YRCW) to Neutral from Underweight following the announcement that the company and the Teamsters will vote on contract modifications.


• Del Monte Foods (NYSE:DLM) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.
  


• Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) was upgraded at Morgan Stanley to Equal Weight from Underweight.
  


• Reliant Energy (NYSE:RRI) was lifted to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.

• B. Riley downgraded shares of Hot Topic (NASDAQ:HOTT) to Neutral from Buy to reflect a lack of visibility into 2009 and valuation but raised their target price to $9.30 from $8.20.


• Citigroup cut KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ:KLAC) to Hold from Buy to reflect their more offensive stance on the semi group as they view KLA-Tencor as a more defensive name. The firm lowered their target to $22 from $31.


• KeyBanc downgraded Arch Chemicals (NYSE:ARJ) to Underweight from Hold citing global economic headwinds, the stronger dollar, pension costs, and continued weakness in North American housing, among other reasons.
  


• Jo Ann Stores (NYSE:JAS) was cut to Hold from Buy at Soleil.


• Calyon downgraded Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) to Outperform from Buy.


• Amdocs (NYSE:DOX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman.

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Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: RHT, AMZN, DLM, BHP, RTP originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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