- Upgrades
- Noble (NE 44.10) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan
- DuPont Fabros Technology (DFT 23.15) upgraded to Top Pick from Outperform at RBC; tgt $32
- Parker Hannifin (PH 85.39) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank; tgt $100
- Cintas (CTAS 27.91) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird; tgt raised to $34 from $32. Firm’s upgrade is based on what they see as attractive valuation with a backdrop of improving fundamentals, supported by recent labor data, preliminary results of Baird’s 1Q11 industry survey, and recent channel checks. Firm additionally notes recent volatility has reduced the relative attractiveness of riskier names, which they believe provides opportunity for outperformance at CTAS, given the co’s lower-risk business model, quality franchise, and leverage to the emerging employment recovery.
- Amer States Water (AWR 32.93) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Brean Murray; tgt $39. Firm notes shares have traded off substantially since November, 2010 and are now at a level they consider attractive from both a P/E and dividend yield perspective. Firm notes risks to the achievement of target price include integration of acquisitions, weather, environmental regulations, regulation of rates, and interest rates.
Downgrades:
- Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS 40.06) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies; tgt $45
- OpenTable (OPEN 91.53) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merriman
- Pall (PLL 57.02) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies
- Noble Corp (NE 44.10) downgraded to Mkt Perform from Outperform at FBR Capital; tgt $48. Firm notes downgrade comes as their near-term thesis on the name is largely played out. They note shares are up 25% year to date, which compares favorably to firm’s coverage universe. Firm now prefers names with a greater preponderance of catalysts that have yet to materialize, particularly Ensco (ESV 55.23). They believe that ESV is ideally situated to benefit from upside in jackup day rates over the next several years, as well as realize substantial synergies from the pending merger with PDE.
Miscellaneous:
- Epocrates (EPOC 25.00) initiated with Overweight at Piper Jaffray; tgt $30
- NeoPhotonics Corporation (NPTN 10.56) initiated with Overweight at Piper Jaffray; tgt $14
