New Analyst Ratings (DO, PDE, RIG, HAL, BHI, ATW, NE, RDC, HAWK, SLB, STXS, SCMR, SYK, VTG, ESV, HERO, WLT, WMGI, ZMH)

Published on Wednesday, 08 September 2010 07:13 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, September 8^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Following are some of the new analyst ratings before the market open.

Research Firms Initiate:

Diamond Offshore (NYSE:DO), the deep-water oil and natural gas driller, was initiated with a Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Oil and gas services and driller stocks, Pride International (NYSE:PDE), Transocean (NYSE:RIG), Halliburton (NYSE:HAL), Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI), Atwood Oceanics (NYSE:ATW), Noble Corporation (NYSE:NE), Rowan Companies (NYSE:RDC), and Seahawk Drilling (NASDAQ:HAWK) were initiated with an Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB), the provider of oilfield services to the international petroleum industry, was initiated with Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Stereotaxis (NASDAQ:STXS) was initiated with Outperform at Oppenheimer and a target price of $5. The firm sees a more stable to slightly improving environment, which bodes well for the company’s Niobe system for catheter ablation.

Sycamore (NASDAQ:SCMR) was initiated with a Buy at Auriga U.S.A and a target price of $44. The firm finds shares attractive to patient investors who are willing to wait for the company's new product cycle in wireless backhaul due to net cash per share of $22.40 on the balance sheet and no debt.

Stryker (NYSE:SYK), the surgical devices and medical implants maker, was initiated with Outperform at Oppenheimer and a target price of $57. The firm expects better 2011 performance on major new rollouts in hips and knees.

Vantage Drilling (NYSE:VTG), Ensco (NYSE:ESV), and Hercules Offshore (NASDAQ:HERO) were initiated with a Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Walter Energy (NYSE:WLT), the Florida based producer of metallurgical, steam, and industrial coal, was initiated with a Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Wright Medical (NASDAQ:WMGI) was initiated with a Perform at Oppenheimer. The firm noted the company’s recent mixed performance with extremities and international sales performing well, while biologics and U.S. disappointing. Oppenheimer said while they expect extremities and knee product flow to remain solid, they anticipate continued pressure in biologics, hips to face headwinds due to metal on metal safety concerns, and international comparables to toughen.

Zimmer Holdings (NYSE:ZMH), the medical implants maker, was initiated with a Perform at Oppenheimer. The firm believes Zimmer’s improved market share position in hips/knees and solid free cash flow will help reverse this near term. However, with the hip/knee market growth likely to remain in the mid-single digits and the company’s other segments still delivering mixed results, the firm sees more long term upside opportunity in other large cap med tech companies like Stryker and Medtronic.