Upgrades

Spain Garners a Bull Call

ETF Professor — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:36:45 +0000

It was just over a year ago that yields on Spanish 10-year sovereign bonds surged over 7.6 percent. Investors fretted that the "S" in the infamous PIIGS acronym was headed for collapse and a subsequent epic bailout.

Spain, the eurozone's fourth-largest economy, offered little in the way of bullish investment themes, that is unless one enjoys crippled banks and the region's highest rate of joblessness.

Fast-forward to 2013 and it is fair to say the iShares MSCI Spain Index Fund (NYSE: EWP) has not been as bad of a performer as many would have predicted at the start of the year. EWP, the lone Spain ETF, is actually slightly higher year-to-date when accounting for Tuesday's gain. With EWP holding up fairly well, at least one investor is cautiously optimistic on Spanish equities.

"I've recently upgraded my view of Spanish stocks to neutral from underweight," said iShares Global Chief Investment Strategist Russ Koesterich in a new note. "While Spain continues to face severe growth headwinds, there are three main reasons why I'm less concerned about the market now."

While ...

UPDATE: Stifel Nicolaus Upgrades Newfield Exploration on Increasing Proved NAV

Dwight Einhorn — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:17:21 +0000

In a report published Tuesday, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Amir Arif upgraded the rating on Newfield Exploration (NYSE: NFX) from Hold to Buy, and named a $29.00 price target.

In the report, Stifel Nicolaus noted, “We are upgrading NFX from Hold ...

Benzinga's Top Upgrades

Lisa Levin — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:06:20 +0000

JP Morgan upgraded People's United Financial (NASDAQ: PBCT) from “neutral” to “overweight.” The target price for People's United Financial has been raised from $13.50 to $15.50. People's United Financial shares closed at $13.91 yesterday.

Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Newfield Exploration Company (NYSE: NFX) from “hold” to “buy.” Newfield Exploration's shares closed at $23.01 yesterday.

Analysts at Riley ...

UPDATE: J.P. Morgan Upgrades Ryman Hospitality Properties on Compelling Valuation

Dwight Einhorn — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:50:31 +0000

In a report published Monday, J.P. Morgan analyst Kevin Milota upgraded the rating on Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE: RHP) from Neutral to Overweight, and raised the price target from $40.00 to $42.00.

In the report, J.P. Morgan noted, “We are upgrading our rating on RHP to Overweight from Neutral. We think the sell-off in RHP shares following its 1Q13 earnings report on 5/7/13 (when the stock closed at $45.34) and guidance revision on ...

UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Upgrades Heartland Payment Systems on Multiple Positive Factors

Dwight Einhorn — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:48:39 +0000

In a report published Monday, Piper Jaffray analyst Michael J. Grondahl upgraded the rating on Heartland Payment Systems (NYSE: HPY) from Neutral to Overweight, and raised the price target from $34.00 to $42.00.

In the report, Piper Jaffray noted, “We are upgrading HPY to ...

UPDATE: J.P. Morgan Upgrades Hornbeck Offshore on Oncoming Investor Day

Garet Zatz — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:31:29 +0000

In a report published on Monday, J.P. Morgan analyst J. David Anderson upgraded Hornbeck Offshore (NYSE: HOS) from Neutral to Overweight and raised the price target on the company from $60 to $66.

In the report, J.P. Morgan stated, "We revisit our investment thesis for ...

UPDATE: Wunderlich Securities Upgrades CYS Investments on Valuation and Dividends

Dwight Einhorn — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:28:11 +0000

In a report published Monday, Wunderlich Securities analyst Merrill Ross upgraded the rating on CYS Investments (NYSE: CYS) from Hold to Buy, and reiterated the $12.00 price target.

In the report, Wunderlich Securities noted, “We are upgrading the shares of CYS Investments ...

UPDATE: J.P. Morgan Upgrades Ryman Hospitality Properties on Strength of Forward Book

Garet Zatz — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:27:05 +0000

In a report published on Monday, J.P. Morgan analyst Kevin Milota upgraded Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE: RHP) from Neutral to Overweight and raised the price target on the company from $40 to $42.

In the report, J.P. Morgan stated, "We think the sell-off in ...

Benzinga's Top Upgrades

Lisa Levin — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:52:41 +0000

JP Morgan upgraded Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE: RHP) from “neutral” to “overweight.” The target price for Groupon has been raised from $6 to $10. Ryman Hospitality Properties' shares closed at $36.40 on Friday.

Analysts at Piper Jaffray upgraded Heartland Payment Systems (NYSE: HPY) from “neutral” to “overweight.” The target price for Heartland Payment has been raised from $34 to $42. Heartland ...

Weekly Preview: Fed In Focus as Tapering Fears Mount

Matthew Kanterman — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:44:40 +0000

Next week, the Fed's policy statement, updated forecasts and Press Conference with Chairman Ben Bernanke will be closely watched. Key earnings from companies including FedEx (NYSE: FDX), Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU), and Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) will also be watched.

Key Earnings

Earnings from transportation giant FedEx will be closely watched as well as earnings from tech giant Oracle. In addition, semiconductor manufacturer Micron Technology's earnings will be closely watched as a proxy for the health of the chip market and demand in the broader PC market.

FedEx

FedEx is expected to report fourth quarter and full year results on Wednesday, June 19. The company is expected to report fourth quarter earnings per share of $1.97 vs. $1.99 a year ago on revenue of $11.45 billion vs.$11.00 billion a year ago. Full year earnings per share are expected to be $6.05 vs. $6.59 a year ago on revenue of $44.4 billion vs. $42.7 billion a year ago.

Analysts Ken Hoexter and Victoria Zhang at Bank of America Merrill Lynch weighed in ahead of the earnings release. They have a Buy rating and $120 price target on the stock.

“Next Wednesday, FedEx reports F4Q13 earnings, which we target to be at the lower end of its implied 4Q13 EPS range of $1.92-$2.12 (it currently has a $6.00- $6.20 target for F2013). We are at $1.91, a touch below consensus given the continued trade down to International Economy services.”

“Key to the release will be its F2014 outlook, as it sets its year-ahead outlook with year-end results. We believe the Street is anticipating a $6.60-$7.20 F2014 range, a 10-20% increase off the bottom of its F2013 target (we are at $7.25).”

Analysts at Goldman Sachs were a bit more cautious heading into the earnings release. However, they reiterated their Buy rating and $114 price target Thursday in a note.

“Global airfreight flows have been mixed, with bellwether terminals such as HACTL pointing to softer-than-anticipated throughput. HACTL recently reported a 0.2% yoy decline in total throughput in May. From Mar-May, throughput was flat at +0.2% yoy due to weakness on the East/West routes which we think provides a negative guide for FDX's international express volumes, given that HACTL data tends to correlate with Memphis international throughput.”

“The challenge for FDX is to adjust its cost structure to support the strong growth from international deferred. We would expect further rationalization of service frequencies on the East/West routes. We cut our 4QFY13 estimate to $1.95 from $2.17 and reduce our FY14-15 estimates by 1%-7%, as we trim our Express revenue estimates by 2%-3% and incorporate increased D&A expense related to the early retirement of aged fleet.”

Justin Yagerman at Deutsche Bank is also bullish on the stock. The bank has a Buy rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock.

“FDX will report FQ4 EPS on June 19, 2013 and the company will host a conference call at 8:30AM ET. We are now modeling FQ4 EPS of $1.95 and guidance of $1.90-2.10. Our FQ4 EPS estimate excludes $0.94 of costs associated with FDX's voluntary buyout program. We expect the company to issue its FY2014 outlook and to discuss in more detail expected savings from its profit improvement plan.”

Micron Technology

Semiconductor maker Micron Technology is expected to report earnings on Wednesday as well. Analysts expect Micron to report third quarter earnings per share of $0.02 vs. ...

UPDATE: Groupon Shares Climb 13% Follwoing Deutsche Bank Upgrade

Matthew Kanterman — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:31:07 +0000

Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) shares rose nearly 13 percent intraday after an upgrade from Deutsche Bank, as was reported earlier by Benzinga. The analysts highlighted a stage of growth for the company as a key catalyst for the upgrade.

Ratings Change

Deutsche Bank raised its price target from $6 to $10 previously on the stock and boosted its rating from Hold to Buy. The new price target represents over 45 percent upside to Thursday's closing price. In the most bullish scenario, they even see the price rising as high as $16 per share, which would see the stock gain over 133 percent from Thursday's close.

"We are upgrading shares of Groupon to Buy based on: 1) the company should be in a position to grow billings 20%+ on the transition to a “pull” strategy, marked by further traction in mobile and SEO/SEM, which should result in 2) up to 30% upside to 2015 ...

UPDATE: Sterne Agee Upgrades M&T Bank Based on Earnings Performance

Ari Crane — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:41:39 +0000

In a report published on Friday, Sterne Agee analyst Todd Hagerman upgraded M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB) from Neutral to Buy and maintained a $125 price target on the company.

In the report, Sterne Agee commented that, "MTB's ...

UPDATE: JP Morgan Upgrades Advent Software Following CEO's Aggressive Moves

Ari Crane — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:36:23 +0000

In a report published on Friday, J.P. Morgan analyst Sterling Auty upgraded Advent Software (NASDAQ: ADVS) from Underweight to Neutral and raised the price target on the company from $28 to $35.

In the report, J.P. Morgan commented that, "Since CEO Pete Hess took over the helm in July 2012, he has been aggressively addressing all ...

UPDATE: J.P. Morgan Upgrades EnerNOC to Overweight on Valuation

Dwight Einhorn — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:15:06 +0000

In a report published Friday, J.P. Morgan analyst Paul Coster upgraded the rating on EnerNOC (NASDAQ: ENOC) from Neutral to Overweight, and reiterated the $18.50 price target.

In the report, J.P. Morgan noted, “We are upgrading ENOC to Overweight, from a long-standing Neutral, based on valuation. The stock is up over 100% y/y but has retraced 32% from ...

UPDATE: Jefferies Upgrades OGE Energy to Buy on Two Free Earnings Options

Dwight Einhorn — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:14:41 +0000

In a report published Friday, Jefferies analyst Paul B. Fremont upgraded the rating on OGE Energy (NYSE: OGE) from Hold to Buy, and raised the price target from $74.00 to $76.00.

In the ...