Upgrades and Downgrades (AEG, BPO, CAVM, DYN, EM, ICE, MDAS, PFS, SSCC, VLCM, VMW, WTNY, ATML, CEA, COCO, DEG)

Published on Monday, 16 August 2010 07:41 Written by Danny Miller

New York, August 16^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Following are some of the top upgrades and downgrades before the market open.

Upgrades:

Aegon (NYSE:AEG), the provider of life and health insurance, and related pension, savings, and investment products in Europe and North America, was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.

Brookfield Properties (NYSE:BPO), the developer, manager, and owner of North American office properties, was upgraded to a Buy from Hold at Citigroup.

Cavium Networks (NASDAQ:CAVM), the provider of semiconductor processors that enable intelligent networking, communications and security applications, was upgraded to a Strong Buy from Buy at Needham. The firm set a target price of $37.

Dynegy (NYSE:DYN) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Macquarie.

Emdeon (NYSE:EM), the provider of revenue and payment cycle management solutions, was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE), the global operator of commodity marketplaces, was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse

MedAssets (NASDAQ:MDAS), the technology-enabled products and services for hospitals and health systems, was upgraded to a Buy from Hold at Auriga. The firm set a target price of $26 following its recent sell-off amid no material change in fundamentals. MedAssets was also upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.

Provident Financial (NYSE:PFS) was upgraded to a Buy from Neutral at Janney Montgomery Scott.

Smurfit-Stone Container (NASDAQ:SSCC), the maker of paperboard and paper-based packaging, was upgraded to a Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Volcom (NASDAQ:VLCM), the clothing manufacturer, was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird. The firm raised its target price to $23 citing an attractive valuation, after recent price depreciation. The analysts also believe Volcom will maintain its momentum in men's and could be poised for a turnaround in juniors.

VMware (NYSE:VMW), the provider of virtualization software solutions, was upgraded to a Buy from Hold at ThinkEquity.

Whitney Holding (NASDAQ:WTNY), the bank holding company, was upgraded to a Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan.

Downgrades

Atmel (NASDAQ:ATML), the maker of various non-volatile memory and logic integrated circuits, was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at FBR Capital. The firm lowered its target price to $6.75 from $7.25 based on valuation. The firm recently assessed supply chain inventories and found that downstream inventories are building faster than expected, driving a possible wave of semiconductor revenue and EPS misses as the replenishment cycle ceases.

China Eastern Airlines (NYSE:CEA) was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at Citigroup.

Corinthian Colleges (NASDAQ:COCO), the for-profit post-secondary education Company, was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Delhaize Group (NYSE:DEG), the owner and operator of supermarkets, drugstores, discount stores, and health and beauty shops throughout Belgium and abroad, was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at ING Group.