Up/Downgrades (CXW, HES, IPI, MRO, MAS, MUR, RHI, RBCN, CNI, CCOI, CMTL, LM, NSC, SMG, ST, SCCO, STJ, GEO, TOL, USG)

Published on Tuesday, 13 December 2011 08:59 Written by Danny Miller

New York, December 13^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Following are some of the top upgrades and downgrades before the market open.

Upgrades

Corrections Corporation of America (NYSE:CXW) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

Hess (NYSE:HES), the global integrated energy company based in New York, NY, was upgraded to a Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Intrepid Potash (NYSE:IPI), the Colorado based fertilizer maker, was upgraded to a Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO), the crude oil and natural gas exploration and production Company, was upgraded to a Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Masco (NYSE:MAS), the maker of faucets and bath cabinets, was upgraded to a Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR), the oil and gas producer and refining company, was upgraded to a Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI), the largest specialized staffing services firm in the world, was upgraded to Overweight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley.

Rubicon Technologies (NASDAQ:RBCN), the high-quality sapphire substrates and optical windows, was upgraded to a Neutral from Sell at Ticonderoga.

Downgrades

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI), the largest freight railroad in Canada that provides transportation and intermodal service throughout North America, was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) was downgraded to a Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Comtech Telecom (NASDAQ:CMTL) was downgraded to a Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan.

Legg Mason (NYSE:LM), the Baltimore, Maryland based global asset Management Company, was downgraded to a Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC), the railroad operating primarily in the Southeast, East, and Midwest of the United States, was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG), the largest marketer of branded consumer lawn and garden products in the world, was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Bank of America Merrill.

Sensata Technologies Holdings (NYSE:ST) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ), the maker of cardiovascular devices, like heart valves, was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

The Geo Group (NYSE:GEO) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL), the luxury homebuilder, was downgraded to a Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

USG Corp (NYSE:USG) was downgraded to a Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.