Equity Brief: Ratings Changes for November 14th: HUBG, IAG, ICFI, JCP, KORS, LOW, MOS, MPC, MRVL
2012-11-14 16:15:57 -
A number of stocks were upgraded and downgraded by equities research analysts
today, as reported by Analyst Ratings Network ( bit.ly/equitybriefdaily)
and Equity Brief:
Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HUBG) from a neutral
rating to an outperform rating. Robert W. Baird now has a $38.00 price target on
the stock.
Macquarie downgraded shares of IAMGOLD Corp (NYSE: IAG) from an outperform
rating to a neutral rating.
SunTrust upgraded shares of ICF International, Inc. (NASDAQ: ICFI) from a
neutral rating to a buy rating.
Nomura gave shares of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) a new $18.00 price
target. They now have a neutral rating on the stock. They wrote, "Despite weak
financial results, JCP is moving forward with its transformational strategy,
albeit with some mid-course corrections. The hope is that as more shops are
constructed, the company will gain more traction with customers. Based on our
current estimates, which forecast a loss of $370MM in the first three qtrs of
F13, JCP may need to draw on its revolver during the peak borrowing period (3Q).
Although the company has plenty of capacity ($1.5BN), the need to borrow would
not be a good signal to the market."
JPMorgan Chase downgraded shares of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) from
an overweight rating to a neutral rating. Their analysts now have a $20.00 price
target on the stock, down previously from $30.00. They wrote, "We are
downgrading JCPenney to Neutral from Overweight based on (1) more questions than
answers on the long-term pricing/promotional structure (incentives, NOW Pricing,
MSRP), (2) balance sheet composition increasingly unclear (WC vs. non-core asset
sale drivers), and (3) lack of earnings support for potentially another year
(JPM modeling $0.00 EPS in FY13 w/ risk if sales do not materialize)."
Nomura gave shares of Michael Kors Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ: KORS) a new $58.00
price target. They wrote, "FQ2 was another very strong quarter, w/ sales/EPS
well above guidance. For FQ3, mgmt guided to mid-20s comp increase and EPS
slightly below consensus, but we expect KOR to exceed guidance. Our F13E EPS
goes from $1.51 to $1.61, F14E from $1.87 to $2.00. KORS has best momentum in
our retail coverage. PT raised to $58, representing 29.1x our F14E EPS and
18.3x our F14E EBITDA, roughly equal to LULU multiples, although we expect KORS
to grow sales/EPS at faster rate."
Oppenheimer raised its price target on shares of Lowe's (LOW) from $32.00 to
$42.00. They have an outperform rating on the stock. They wrote, "We have for
some time looked favorably on the potential for a US housing market recovery and
hence better demand trends within the Home Improvement sector. Data suggest that
our thesis is playing out well. We are increasingly of the view that Lowe's is
likely to make for the better stock in 2013. An aggressive re-merchandising
effort and a string of internal missteps have weighed on LOW results over the
past several quarters. We are optimistic that with improving demand trends at
its back, LOW is now approaching a positive fundamental turn. LOW shares have
significantly underperformed those of Home Depot since late 2010. Our price
target for LOW goes to $42 from $32 previously."
Canaccord Genuity downgraded shares of The Mosaic Company (MOS) from a buy
rating to a hold rating. Their analysts now have a $55.00 price target on the
stock, down previously from $65.00.
Imperial Capital initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Petroleum (MPC). They
issued an outperform rating on the stock and set a $64.00 price target.
UBS AG reiterated its neutral rating on shares of Marvell Technology Group
(MRVL). They have a $9.00 price target on the stock.
Capital One downgraded shares of Northern Oil & Gas, Inc. (NOG) to a neutral
rating.
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