Up/Downgrades (ININ, JCI, MSPD, MSW, NOK, NWE, OXY, PAAS, BEXP, CYH, EGP, ECA, MGM, NFLX, PEET, TXN)

Published on Tuesday, 26 April 2011 08:14 Written by Danny Miller

New York, April 26^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Following are some of the top upgrades and downgrades before the market open.

Upgrades

Interactive Intelligence (NASDAQ:ININ) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Morgan Keegan following earnings and based on valuation.

Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI), the maker of automotive seating and interior systems, was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray following quarterly results.

Mindspeed (NASDAQ:MSPD) was upgraded to a Buy from Hold at Needham. The firm set its target price at $10, as results and guidance prove the inventory overhang is in the rearview and the growth businesses are poised to drive improved results.

Mission West (NYSE:MSW) was upgraded to a Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan.

Nokia (NYSE:NOK), the world’s largest mobile phone maker, was upgraded to a Neutral from Sell at WestLB.

Northwestern Corp. (NYSE:NWE) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY), the crude oil and natural gas producer based in Los Angeles, CA, was upgraded to a Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was upgraded to a Buy from Hold at Jefferies. The firm raised its target price to $48 from $37.

Downgrades

Brigham Exploration (NASDAQ:BEXP) was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at Stifel Nicolaus based on valuation.

Community Health (NYSE:CYH), the owner and operator of acute care hospitals in non-urban markets across the U.S., was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at Citigroup.

EastGroup (NYSE:EGP) was downgraded to a Neutral from Buy at UBS.

EnCana (NYSE:ECA), the natural gas producer, was downgraded to a Sell from Neutral at Ticonderoga. The firm set its target price at $27 saying last week's 1Q11 results show EnCana is still scaling back expectations due to the weak natural gas market in North America, and their expectation is that natural gas prices are likely to move lower over the summer as growing U.S. production once again pushes storage levels toward record highs.

MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM), the hospitality and gaming Company owner of properties like the Bellagio and MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV, was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), the online video company, was downgraded to a Sell from Neutral at Janney Montgomery Scott following weak outlook.

Peet's Coffee (NASDAQ:PEET) was downgraded to a Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird. The firm lowered its target price to $48 from $53, as it is concerned about the near-term earnings outlook due to higher coffee costs.

Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN), the maker of digital signal processing (DSP) and microcontroller (MCU) semiconductors, was downgraded to a Neutral from Outperform at BNP Paribas.