Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) kicked off earnings season. The aluminum giant was maintained as Buy with a $17 price target (versus a $13.67 close) at Sterne Agee. Nomura maintained its Buy rating but cut the target to $21 from $23 in its call.
BioMed Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: BMR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.
Cancer Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: CGIX) was started as Buy with a fair value estimate of $13.00 (versus an $8.04 close) at Janney Capital Markets.
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform and the price target was slashed to $4 from $8 (versus a $4.81 close) at BMO Capital Markets.
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Gladstone Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: GLAD) was resumed as Neutral with a fair value estimate of $8.00 (versus a $8.93 close) at Janney Capital Markets. The firm said the total portfolio is marked at $0.85 per dollar, while its oil and gas exposure is marked at $0.97 per dollar, and that it has increased leverage from 0.46 to 0.71 quarter over quarter.
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $105 from $100 (versus a $98.61 close) at Oppenheimer.
Intercontinental Hotels Group PLC (NYSE: IHG) was raised to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies.
Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) was started with a Market Perform rating and was given a price target of $31 (versus a $27.96 close) at BMP Capital Markets.
Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) was started as Outperform with a price target of $20 (versus a $15.00 close) at Cowen.
Meritage Corp. (NYSE: MTH) was downgraded to underweight from neutral by J.P. Morgan, and the price target was lowered to $43 from $48.
Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. (NYSE: MAA) was started as Buy and was given a fair value estimate of $83 (versus a $78.15 close) at Janney Capital Markets.
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Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PTEN) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen.
PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at J.P. Morgan.
Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) was reiterated as Buy and the post-split price target was raised to $54 at Argus.
Tribune Media Co. (NYSE: TRCO) was started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
TriVascular Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIV) was downgraded to Neutral at Credit Suisse, which cut the price target to $10 from $14.
Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets.
XL Group PLC (NYSE: XL) was started with a Market Outperform rating and was assigned a price target of $43 (versus a $37.67 close) at JMP Securities.
Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Oppenheimer. Also, it was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $42 at Roth Capital.
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In case you missed Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Apple, Annaly Capital, Jabil Circuit, Lululemon, Xerox, WebMD and dozen other companies.
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