Equity Brief: Ratings Changes for November 26th: SMBL, SNDK, SQNM, STO, TOT, UBSH, VHS, VRSN, WAIR

2012-11-27 08:16:48 -

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:



RBC Capital initiated coverage on shares of Smart Balance Inc (NASDAQ: SMBL).

They issued a top pick rating on the stock.



Credit Suisse initiated coverage on shares of SanDisk Co. (NASDAQ: SNDK). They

issued an outperform rating on the stock.



Stephens upgraded shares of Sequenom (NASDAQ: SQNM) from an equal weight rating

to an overweight rating.



Exane BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Statoil (NYSE: STO). They

issued an outperform rating on the stock.



Exane BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of TOTAL S.A. (NYSE: TOT). They

issued an outperform rating on the stock.



UBS AG upgraded shares of Union First Market Bankshares Corp (UBSH) from a hold

rating to a buy rating. UBS AG now has a $16.50 price target on the stock.



Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Vanguard Health Syst (VHS) from an

outperform rating to a neutral rating. Their analysts now have a $12.00 price

target on the stock.



First Analysis downgraded shares of Verisign, Inc. (VRSN) from an overweight

rating to an equal weight rating.



Bank of America downgraded shares of Wesco Aircraft (WAIR) from a buy rating to

an underperform rating. They wrote, "In our view the slower than anticipated

cycle for WAIR's segment of the supply chain, combined with pricing pressure in

ad hoc sales, and modest growth in lead times has led to disappointing results

to date. While we commend the company's efforts to increase market share, expand

internationally and focus on new business opportunities, we believe the

fundamental distribution model may be at risk. In our view, the PCP/Boeing deal,

whereby BA sources directly from PCP, could mark just the beginning of a

fundamental industry change."



Goldman Sachs upgraded shares of Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) to a buy rating. Goldman

Sachs now has a $24.00 price target on the stock. They wrote, "We are adding

Yahoo! to the Conviction List and raising our 12-month price target to $24 from

$22. With capital allocation actions serving as a catalyst to drive a

revaluation in the stock, we believe the value of Yahoo!'s balance sheet assets

and the core business are worth more than the current stock price. In our

opinion, this revaluation, along with recent clarity on the turnaround and

channel checks signaling effective management of the organization's structure,

investments and finances, creates a very attractive risk/reward scenario,

particularly given the early reaction in the stock to the buyback and the

roughly 75% of the buyback that still remains."



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