Up/Downgrades (AON, CINF, CRK, DG, DUK, GNRC, MKL, ALL, BMO, BRO, FAST, HCC, BTU, PEG, REN, S, SFSF, VE)

Published on Wednesday, 07 December 2011 08:51 Written by Paul Oldrini

New York, December 7^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Following are some of the top upgrades and downgrades before the market open.

Upgrades

Aon Corp. (NYSE:AON), the global reinsurance intermediary, was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.

Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ:CINF), the Ohio based property and casualty insurer, was upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Comstock (NYSE:CRK) was upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer. The firm set its target price at $30.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG), the operator of discount retail stores, was upgraded to a Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK), the Charlotte, NC based energy company, was upgraded to a Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Generac (NASDAQ:GNRC) was upgraded to a Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Markel Corporation (NYSE:MKL) was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.

Downgrades

Allstate (NYSE:ALL), the car and homeowners insurance company was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets and to a Hold from Buy at Cannacord Genuity.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO), the provider of insurance and reinsurance products and services, was downgraded to Underperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST), the wholesaler and retailer of industrial and construction supplies, was downgraded to a Neutral from Buy at UBS.

HCC Insurance (NYSE:HCC) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU), the coal producer with worldwide operations, was downgraded to a Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE:PEG) was downgraded to a Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Resolute Energy (NYSE:REN) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Sterne Agee.

Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S), the third largest U.S. wireless carrier, was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

SuccessFactors (NASDAQ:SFSF) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Veolia Environnement (NYSE:VE) was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.