Sprint Nextel Corp (NYSE: S): Piper Jaffray on Friday upgraded its rting on the company to Overweight from Neutral.
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM): Stifel Nicolaus this morning initiated coverage on the company with a Hold rating.
Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF): Goldman Sachs on Friday resumed coverage on the company with a Neutral rating and a price target of $56.
American Express (NYSE: AXP): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and a prce target of $59, citing underappreciated operating and capital leverage. In a research note to clients, the firm stated, "In our view, the market is under-appreciating the return capabilities at AXP, which would be driven by operating leverage and excess capital. Given its spend-centric business mix, we expect continued top-line growth to be aided by further spending by high-end consumers and growth in its international franchise."
LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LDK): Kaufman Bros this morning downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy. The firm cut its price target on the stock to $16 from $24. In a research note to clients, the firm stated "Our positive earnings growth story was predicated on the company being able to ramp production and drive earnings through higher volumes and utilization levels that would offset pricing declines of 15%-20%. Given the Italian uncertainty, overall solar installations are not ramping as quickly as expected and large inventories of solar wafers are being reported in the supply chain. With this scenario, we question whether or not the industry can take the additional production even if LDK is able to provide it. Presumably, the company will be able to sell the wafers, but likely at an even lower cost. Therefore, we believe the company will likely slow production ramps resulting in lower volumes. What it does sell will likely be at a lower price."
Full Disclosure: None.
