NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- CHANGE IN RATINGS
Apache (APA) was upgraded at Oppenheimer to outperform from perform. $100 price target. Stock has priced in risks and the company is buying back shares and debt, Oppenheimer said.
BB&T (BBT) was upgraded at Goldman Sachs to buy. Stock appears inexpensive relative to its peers, Goldman said.
ConAgra (CAG) was downgraded at J.P. Morgan to neutral from overweight. $33 price target. Consensus estimates have downside risk, J.P. Morgan said. Cavium (CAVM) was downgraded at Lazard Capital Markets to neutral from buy. Valuation call, as the stock has a price-to-earnings ratio of 29, based on expected 2014 earnings. Church & Dwight (CHD) was upgraded at Deutsche Bank to buy from hold. $66 price target. Company can sustain 3%-4% organic sales and double-digit earnings growth, annually, Deutsche Bank said. Chico's FAS (CHS) was upgraded at Keybanc to buy from hold. $21 price target. Company has long-term growth potential with earnings power approaching $2 a share, Keybanc said. Comerica (CMA) was upgraded at Goldman Sachs to neutral. Company should benefit from lower interest in short-end demand, Goldman said. [Read: US Airways Could Prosper Without Merger, Analyst Says] Charles River (CRL) was initiated with a neutral rating at UBS. Reflects valuation, although there are early-stage signs of improvement, said UBS. Price target is $49. Covance (CVD) was initiated with a buy rating at UBS. Reflects its late-stage clinical development and margin-expansion opportunity, UBS said. Price target is $96. Delta Air Lines (DAL) was upgraded at J.P. Morgan to overweight from neutral. $26 price target. Newly introduced tax rate not to be confused with a diminished earnings outlook, J.P. Morgan said. Fifth Third (FITB) was downgraded at Goldman Sachs to neutral from buy. Company is leveraged to slower mortgage activity, Goldman said. Fortuna Silver Mines (FSM) was upgraded to hold at TheStreet Ratings. Hologic (HOLX) was downgraded to hold at TheStreet Ratings. [Read: Less-Than-Shiny Gold Miners] Kellogg (K) was downgraded at J.P. Morgan to underweight from neutral. $60 price target. Top line concerns and difficult comparisons, J.P. Morgan said. Kennametal (KMT) was downgraded at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch. Valuation call, based on a $50 price target, BofA/Merrill said. US Airways Group (LCC) was upgraded at J.P. Morgan to overweight from neutral. $26 price target. Stand-alone prospects are materially better than implied by the market, J.P. Morgan said.
Mead Johnson Nutrition (MJN) was upgraded at J.P. Morgan to overweight from neutral. $88 price target. Top-line growth should be valued more highly than the pending cost headwinds and the possibility of further Chinese government intervention, J.P. Morgan said.
Public Service Enterprise (PEG) was upgraded at Jefferies to buy from hold. The company is gaining more political support for its "energy strong" capital spending program, said Jefferies. Price target is $37.
Quintiles (Q) was initiated with a buy rating at UBS. Reflects scale, late-stage development exposure and supplemental growth from CSO, said UBS. Price target is $51.
Steve Madden (SHOO) was downgraded at Wedbush to neutral from outperform. Valuation call, based on a $55 price target, Wedbush said. Volcano (VOLC) was upgraded at BMO Capital to outperform from market perform. $28 price target. Stock is attractively valued, and the company can achieve near-term earnings expectations, BMO Capital said. [Read: Wealth Concentration for the Top 1% Is at Worst Level Since 1929] Werner (WERN) was downgraded at Keybanc to hold from buy. Company warned and is facing several issues, Keybanc said. STOCK COMMENTS / EPS CHANGES Aetna (AET) numbers were raised at UBS. Estimates were raised as medical-claims trends should continue and CVH synergies could be better than expected, said UBS. Price target goes to $76. Celldex (CLDX) price target was raised at Jefferies to $29 ahead of CDX-1127 PI trial data release. Packaging Corp of America (PKG) numbers were reduced at Jefferies. Earnings estimates were adjusted lower to reflect less accretion from BZ acquisition, said Jefferies. Price target was reduced to $68. PerkinElmer (PKI) numbers were raised at UBS. Estimates were raised as the company enters expanding markets and balances investment vs. growth, said UBS. Price target goes to $43. >To submit a news tip, email: tips@thestreet.com. Follow TheStreet on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.
This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.