Upgrades and Downgrades ( BKYF, LSE, CNL, PCTI, SVVS, SNE, ATHN, DCOM, KNX, OCR, PCL, RTN, WERN, ZRAN )

Published on Tuesday, 27 July 2010 08:02 Written by Gerard Lerod

New York, July 27th (TradersHuddle.com) – Following are some of the top upgrades and downgrades before the market open.

Upgrades:

Bank of Kentucky (NASDAQ:BKYF) was upgraded to Outperform from a Neutral at Robert W. Baird. The analyst lowered his target price to $22 from $24 saying a capital raise to repay TARP appears more than discounted in the valuation even if Bank of Kentucky raises capital at or below the current stock price.

CapLease (NYSE:LSE), the REIT, was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Wells Fargo.

Cleco (NYSE:CNL), the company that generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric energy to customers in Louisiana, was upgraded to a Neutral from Sell at Goldman.

PC-TEL (NASDAQ:PCTI), the provider of software based connectivity solutions, was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird. The firma maintained its $8 target price on improved visibility, higher estimates, and an attractive valuation.

Savvis (NASDAQ:SVVS), the provider of global information technology services, was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo and to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital.

Sony (NYSE:SNE), the consumer electronics Company maker of the Playstation and Bravia TVs, was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.

Downgrades:

AthenaHealth (NASDAQ:ATHN), the provider of Internet-based business services for physician practices, was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at Auriga U.S.A. The firm lowered its target price to $30 from $32 following inline results. The firm thinks the post-quarter strength stems from short covering. Going forward, they are reducing their FY11 expectations for growth and margin expansion based on fewer subscriber additions, and the impact of an increasing mix of clinical offering, which comes at a significantly lower margin than its flagship revenue cycle product.

Dime Community (NASDAQ:DCOM) was downgraded to a Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie.

Knight Transportation (NYSE:KNX) was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Omnicare (NYSE:OCR) was downgraded to a Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Plum Creek (NYSE:PCL) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital.

Raytheon (NYSE:RTN), the technology leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets, was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Cowen.

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ:WERN), the transportation and logistics Company, was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Zoran (ZRAN) was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at Needham.