Up/Downgrades (AVP, ETE, ETP, FITB, FLT, HURN, PPS, STI, VRTX, MO, ACOM, CGV, DLR, DHI, IVR, RHI, TOL, VLTR)

Published on Wednesday, 14 December 2011 08:28 Written by Danny Miller

New York, December 14^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Following are some of the top upgrades and downgrades before the market open.

Upgrades

Avon Products (NYSE:AVP), the direct seller of beauty and related products, was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital.

Energy Transfer Equity (NYSE:ETE) was upgraded to a Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Energy Transfer Partners (NYSE:ETP) was upgraded to a Buy from Neutral at UBS. 

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB), the regional bank with presence in the Midwest and Southeast of the U.S., was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein.

FleetCor (NYSE:FLT) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.

Huron Consulting (NASDAQ:HURN) was upgraded to a Buy from Neutral at SunTrust.

Post Properties (NYSE:PPS) was upgraded to a Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

SunTrust Banks (NYSE:STI), the super regional banking holding company with operations in the Mid-Atlantic and the Southeast, was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) was upgraded to Outperform from Underperform at Credit Suisse.

Downgrades

Altria (NYSE:MO), the tobacco holding Company, was downgraded to a Hold from buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

Ancestry.com (NASDAQ:ACOM) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

CGG Veritas (NYSE:CGV) was downgraded to a Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) was downgraded to a Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.

DR Horton (NYSE:DHI), the single-family homebuilder based in Fort Worth, TX, was downgraded to a Sell from Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

Invesco Mortgage Capital (NYSE:IVR) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI), the largest specialized staffing services firm in the world, was downgraded to a Neutral from Buy at SunTrust.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL), the luxury homebuilder, was downgraded to a Sell from Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

Volterra Semiconductor (NASDAQ:VLTR) was downgraded to a Buy from Strong Buy at Needham. The firm lowered its target price to $28 from $29.