Downgrades: AXS, BYD, CECO, CHS, CHH, ETP, TV, KMP, LM, LMNX, PNC, PLD, RNR, RAI, ROG, SIAL, SXL, VRSN

Published on Friday, 06 January 2012 10:27 Written by Danny Miller

New York, January 6^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Following are some of downgrades from earlier in the day.

AXIS Capital (NYSE:AXS) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD), the owner and operator of gaming facilities from Las Vegas To Atlantic City, was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.

Career Education (NASDAQ:CECO) was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at Argus.

Chico’s (NYSE:CHS), the private label casual clothing and related accessories for women retailer, was downgraded to a Neutral from Buy at Bank of America Merrill.

Choice Hotels (NYSE:CHH) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.

Energy Transfer Partners (NYSE:ETP), the publicly traded partnership owning and operating a diversified portfolio of energy assets, was downgraded to a Neutral from Buy.

Grupo Televisa (NYSE:TV) was downgraded to a Sector Perform from Outperform at Scotia.

Kinder Morgan Partners (NYSE:KMP) was downgraded to a Neutral from Buy at Bank of America Merrill.

Legg Mason (NYSE:LM) was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Luminex (NASDAQ:LMNX) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Leerink Swann.

PNC Financial (NYSE:PNC), the regional bank headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, was downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.

ProLogis (NYSE:PLD), the industrial and distribution space provider, was downgraded to a Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Reynolds American (NYSE:RAI), the Winston-Salem, NC based tobacco company, was downgraded to a Neutral from Buy at Davenport.

Rogers Corp. (NYSE:ROG) was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at ThinkEquity.

Sigma-Aldrich (NASDAQ:SIAL), the chemical and biochemical maker and distributor, was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Leerink Swann.

Sunoco Logistics (NYSE:SXL), the owner and operator of a group of refined product and crude oil pipelines, was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Bank of America Merrill.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) was downgraded to Outperform from Buy at Credit Agricole.