Upgrades: Wachovia upgrades Exelon (EXC 67.12) to Outperform from Market Perform... Piper Jaffray upgrades Anadys Pharma (ANDS 2.53) to Neutral from Sell. Downgrades: Wachovia downgrades Public Service Enterprise (PEG 34.23) Market Perform from Outperform... Wachovia downgrades PPL (PPL 36.48) to Market Perform from Outperform... Morgan Stanley downgrades Starwoods Hotels (HOT 32.08) to Equal Weight from Overweight. Miscellaneous: Jefferies initiates Westport (WPRT 10.66) with a Buy and $13 a tgt saying strong secular trends in favor of cleaner air (in the developed world) and the opportunity to arbitrage diesel and natural gas costs (in emerging markets) have accelerated adoption of natural gas vehicles, which are estimated to exceed 8 mln worldwide (120,000 in the U.S.)
Miscellaneous: Baird initiates Regeneron Pharma (REGN 21.10) with a Neutral and sets a $25 tgt, as they believe that a healthy level of clinical success is already factored into shares at current levels and given a lack of key near-term catalysts... Jefferies initiates United Therapeutics (UTHR 106.91) with a Buy and sets a $141 tgt, as they believe UTHR is solidifying its lead position in hte niche pulmonary arterial hypertension market and note, in addition to marketed Remodulin, anticipated market launches of the inhaled and oral formualtions of treprostinil in 2009/2010 position the co well for robust product sales and earnings growth; firm expects UTHR's product sales to continue to grow at a rapid pace (25% CAGR in 2008-2012 vs 18% for peers)... UBS initiates Patriot Coal (PCX 37.51) with a Buy and a $67 tgt.
Upgrades: Merrill Lynch upgrades Amerisourcebergen (ABC 38.36) to Buy from Neutral... Credit Suisse upgrades AMBEV (ABV 54.45) to Outperform from Neutral. Downgrades: JP Morgan downgrades Chubb (CB 53.05) to Underweight from Neutral... JP Morgan downgrades Coeur d'Alene Mines (CDE 1.90) to Neutral from Overweight... Credit Suisse downgrades Infosys (INFY 35.18) to Neutral from Outperform... HSBC downgrades Merrill Lynch (MER 26.20) to Neutral from Overweight... Credit Suisse downgrades Arrow Electronics (ARW 28.76) to Neutral from Outperform... Deutsche Bank downgrades DealerTrack (TRAK 18.56) to Hold from Buy and maintains their $18 tgt, based on valuation and believe ongoing auto demand challenges will likely outweigh the potential for a proposed bailout to improve credit access in the near term... Citigroup downgrades Praxair (PX 80.01) to Hold from Buy and lowers their tgt to $87 from $104, based on valuation coupled with slower economies in the U.S. and Europe... Citigroup downgrades Air Products (APD 73.22) to Hold from Buy and lowers their tgt to $81 from $118, following lowered Q408 EPS guidance... Credit Suisse downgrades Avnet (AVT 25.76) to Neutral from Outperform... CIBC downgrades Horsehead Holding (ZINC 6.68) to Sector Perform from Outperform... Keefe, Bruyette downgrades Whitney Holding (WTNY 26.00) to Market Perform from Outperform and raises their tgt to $25 from $20, based on valuation... Merrill Lynch downgrades F5 Networks (FFIV 24.11) to Underperform from Neutral... Merrill Lynch downgrades Juniper Networks (JNPR 24.23) to Underperform from Neutral.