Up/Downgrades (AXE, EGP, NYX, RDC, STX, TJX, YGE, ABH, DEO, JASO, MMI, SOL, SVVS)

Published on Tuesday, 28 June 2011 08:16 Written by Danny Miller

New York, June 28^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Following are some of the top upgrades and downgrades before the market open.

Upgrades

Anixter (NYSE:AXE), the distributor of communications and specialty wire and cable products around the world, was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird. The firm set its target price at $88, as it notes valuation has become attractive, particularly relative to their expectation of solid results through 2011 based on preliminary data from the firm's 2Q11 Industrial Distribution survey.

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) was upgraded to Outperform from Underperform at FBR Capital. The firm set its target price at $47, as it notes recent underperformance and a deep dive into job growth and fundamental expectations within company's markets. The firm also notes that while there have been recent negative global macroeconomic headlines, it believes its job estimates were already accounting for slow growth. As such, despite a slow U.S. industrial recovery stretching over 2012-14, it believes that shares now present an attractive entry point.

NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX), the global operator of equity market exchanges, was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette.

Rowan Companies (NYSE:RDC), the provider of contract drilling services, was upgraded to a Strong Buy from Buy at Duncan-Williams. The firm raised its target price to $50.25 from $46.50, noting the company released a fleet status after the close yesterday with numerous changes. Include in the fleet status were three new contracts with Aramco, contract extensions, and inclusion of the two new drillships scheduled for delivery in 2013 and 2014.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX), the maker of hard drives and storage solutions, was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at FBN Securities.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX), the owner and operator of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls chains, was upgraded to a Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Yingli Green Energy (NYSE:YGE), the China based photovoltaic modules maker, was upgraded to a Buy from Hold at Brean Murray. The firm set its target price at $10, as it believes that margin erosion, based on pricing pressure, has been fully baked into the share price, given the material pullback during the first quarter earnings period. It expects the space to be primed for a near-term reversal on deceleration of ASP pressure and improved demand expectations in the second half of the year.

Downgrades:

AbitibiBowater (NYSE:ABH) was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at TD Newcrest.

Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO) was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at Citigroup.

JA Solar (NASDAQ:JASO), the China based solar cells manufacturer, was downgraded to a Sell from Hold at Brean Murray. The firm set its target price at $4 based on material pricing pressure in conjunction with higher raw material costs associated with inventory write-downs from first quarter and limited benefit from lower costs across the value chain, particularly around polysilicon as it remains committed to long-term contracts to its major supplier.

Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital.

ReneSola (NYSE:SOL) was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at Brean Murray. The firm downgrades the stock in order to reflect expectations for second half of the year margin erosion, driven by material wafer weakness, and limited prospects for second-half rebound on lower raw material supply chain cost benefits. It also discounts the possibility of the company achieving optimal poly cost structure, given its limited scale that is ramping from 3,500MT currently to 8,500MT by 2012.

SAVVIS, Inc. (NASDAQ:SVVS) was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at The Benchmark Company. The firm lowered its target price to $40 from $45, due to the pending sale of the company to CenturyLink.