Equity Brief: Ratings Changes for November 14th: RJET, SD, SI, SPF, SQI, SUSS, VE, VVTV, WETF
2012-11-14 16:19:55 -
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:
Imperial Capital initiated coverage on shares of Republic Airways Holdings Inc.
(NASDAQ: RJET). They issued an outperform rating on the stock and set a $9.00
price target.
Deutsche Bank lowered its price target on shares of SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE:
SD) from $9.00 to $5.00. They have a hold rating on the stock.
RBC Capital downgraded shares of Siemens ADR (NYSE: SI) from an outperform
rating to a sector perform rating.
Credit Suisse initiated coverage on shares of Standard Pacific Corp (NYSE: SPF).
They issued an outperform rating on the stock. They wrote, "Our Outperform
rating is based on our expectation for superior earnings growth as SPF's
significant investment in attractively-priced land drives higher margins and
strong order growth in 2013 with acceleration in 2014. . We expect gross margins
to rise from 20.4% in 2012 to 21.6% in 2013 and 22.7% in 2014, driven by
improving home prices and a positive mix from recent land deals. We think SPF's
disciplined approach, strong CA relationships, and willingness to take on
larger, more complex development deals will allow for continued acquisitions at
attractive returns vs. peers."
Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Sciquest Incorporated (NYSE: SQI).
They issued an outperform rating on the stock.
Imperial Capital raised its price target on shares of Susser Holdings Co. (SUSS)
from $40.00 to $43.00. They have an outperform rating on the stock.
Societe Generale initiated coverage on shares of Veolia Environnement (VE). They
issued a buy rating on the stock. They wrote, "The group is on track to meet its
net debt reduction target, although we view balance sheet credit metrics as
relatively tight. Trading on a 2014e P/E of 9.6x, EV/Sales of 0.5x and
Price/Book of 0.6x, the current valuation does not discount any material
improvement in either waste market conditions or the cost reduction opportunity
(e.g. our forecasts assume only half of the targeted €300m net cost reduction
target is achieved during 2014-2015). While merger discussions with Suez
Environnement are no longer ongoing, the shares also do not discount any form of
M&A premium."
Feltl & Co. upgraded shares of ValueVision Media, Inc. (VVTV) from a hold rating
to a buy rating. Feltl & Co. now has a $3.00 price target on the stock, up
previously from $2.00. They wrote, "We think VVTV had a decent quarter with
2.6% sales growth. VVTV faced easier prior year "comps" in consumer electronics
(CE) and watches, which declined 23% and 12%, respectively, a year ago. We think
more homes and better channel placement helped drive sales growth. . We derive
our new $3 price target by applying an 8x EV/EBITDA multiple to our new F2013
estimate. We think an 8x multiple is justified given multiples paid for similar
companies. We previously valued the company roughly in line with the book
value."
Gabelli upgraded shares of WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (WETF) from a hold
rating to a buy rating.
Societe Generale upgraded shares of Weatherford (WFT) from a sell rating to a
hold rating. They wrote, "a successful resolution to WFT's tax accounting
problems appears to be on the cusp, and we upgrade to Hold from Sell after
yesterday's steep sell-off. A wind down of the massive back office focus on tax
should drive improved corporate focus on field level operations / profitability.
Investor sentiment should improve with a more visible earnings outlook, and
WFT's new growth strategy with a focus on returns over revenue could allow it to
be viewed more comparably to larger peers. We believe that a positive resolution
on the tax issue and improving operational performance will support higher WFT
multiples, and we lift our P/E and EV/EBITDA assumptions to 7.5x and 4.0x, from
7.0x and 3.5x. This lifts our WFT target to $10.50, from $10."
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