Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (MO, AVP, CE, LFC, EL, FITB, GE, MIND, VRTX, YHOO, YUM, GRPN)

Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) Raised to Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.
Celanese Corporation (NYSE: CE) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
China Life Insurance (NYSE: LFC) maintained as Underperform but named the Bear of the Day by Zacks Investment Research.
Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE: EL) Added to Strong Buy List at Zacks Investment Research.
Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Reiterated Outperform and raised estimates at Credit Suisse.
Mitcham Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: MIND) named as value stock of the day at Zacks Investment Research.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) Raised to Outperform but cut the price target to $37 from $39 by Credit Suisse.
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) resumed with a “Sell” rating at Goldman Sachs.
YUM! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) Reiterated Buy and raised price target to $66.00 by Argus.

The big move in the land of stock research and analyst calls is the expiration of the Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) quiet period.  The online social couponing site was initiated in coverage as follows by some of the syndicate firms:

• Overweight and $27.00 price target at Barclays;
• Buy with $28.00 price target by Bank of America/Merrill Lynch;
• Neutral and $24.00 price target at Citigroup;
• Neutral with a $25.00 price target at Credit Suisse;
• Buy with a $29.00 price target by Goldman Sachs;
• Neutral and $24.00 price target at JPMorgan;
• Sector Perform with $25.00 price target at RBC Capital Markets.