Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: MU, DRIV, HELE, URBN, AKS...

Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Analyst initiations, Urban Outfitters (URBN)

• Oppenheimer upgraded OceanFreight (NASDAQ:OCNF) to Perform from Underperform on valuation and a lack of negative catalysts following the recent weakness.
  


• UBS raised Micron (NYSE:MU) to Buy from Neutral citing supply cuts which should improve prices. The target remains $5.
  


• Jesup & Lamont upgraded Atlas Air (NASDAQ:AAWW) to Buy from Hold is positive on the company's 20 year blocked space agreement with DHL and expects the stock to continue higher.


• AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) was added to Goldman's Conviction Buy List and upgraded to Buy from Neutral.
  


• Goldman also upgraded Northern Trust (NASDAQ:NTRS) to Buy from Neutral.
  


• Digital River (NASDAQ:DRIV) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Stanford.

• Stephens downgraded shares of Titan Machinery (NASDAQ:TITN) after their survey of farmers indicated declining sales of agricultural equipment. The firm lowered their target to $19 but believes Titan Machinery's long-term growth story remains intact.
  


• Jefferies downgraded Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) and Blyth (NYSE:BTH) to Underperform from Hold as they believe the further deterioration in the U.S. consumer macro environment could pressure near-term results. The firm lowered its target on Helen of Troy to $13 from $16.50 and on Blyth to $5.50 from $8.
  


• UBS cut Indevus (NASDAQ:IDEV) to Neutral from Buy and lowered its target to $5.50 from $5 following the acquisition offer by Endo Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENDP).


• AECOM Tech (NYSE:ACM) was lowered to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
  


• Amerisafe (NYSE:AMSF) was downgraded at Oppenheimer to Perform from Outperform.
  


• Tractor Supply (NASDAQ:TSCO) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Piper Jaffray.

• KeyBanc initiated Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) with a Buy rating and $22 target. The firm believes the Urban Outfitters and Antropologie divisions are under penetrated and have visible growth.
  


• Kaufman Bros. started SuccessFactors (NASDAQ:SFSF) with a Hold rating and $7 target and believes the current demand backdrop could be worse than reflected in current consensus estimates.
  


• CarMax (NASDAQ:KMX) was initiated at Baird with a Neutral rating and $10 target. The firm is impressed with CarMax's business model but does not see a way around the near-term economic headwinds.


• Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) and Sunlife Financial (NYSE:SLF) were assumed with Equal Weight ratings at Morgan Stanley.
  


• Oppenheimer started Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ:PSUN) with a Perform rating.
  


• Kite Realty Trust (NYSE:KRG) was initiated with a Buy rating at Janney Montgomery.

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: MU, DRIV, HELE, URBN, AKS... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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