3M (MMM) (ROK) (MURGY) (CRM) (KO) (PEP) (ACN) Ratings, Price Targets

3M (NYSE:MMM), Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK), Munich Re (OTC:MURGY), Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP) and Accenture (NYSE:ACN) ratings and price targets.

Rockwell Automation (ROK) was upgraded by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) from a "Neutral" rating to a "Buy" rating.

Munich Re (OTC:MURGY) was upgraded by Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) from a "Neutral" rating to an "Outperform" rating.

Salesforce.com (CRM) was upgraded by Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) to a long Research Tactical Idea.

UBS downgraded Coca-Cola (KO) from a "Buy" rating to a "Neutral" rating.

UBS downgraded PepsiCo (PEP) from a "Buy" rating to a "Neutral" rating.

3M (MMM) was downgraded by Goldman Sachs from a "Neutral" rating to a "Sell" rating.

Accenture (ACN) was downgraded by Goldman Sachs from a "Buy" rating to a "Neutral" rating.

Coca Cola (KO) (G) (HD) (IT) (JCP) (JWN) Get New Coverage

The Coca Cola Co. (NYSE: KO), Genpact Limited (NYSE: G), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT), J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) and Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) getting new coverage from analysts.

Desjardins initiated coverage on The Coca Cola Co. (KO). They placed a “Buy” rating and a price target of $75.00 on the company.

Kaufman Brothers initiated coverage on Genpact Limited (G). They placed a “Buy” rating and a price target of $19.00 on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) initiated coverage on Home Depot (HD). They placed an “Equal Weight” rating on the company.

Northland Securities initiated coverage on Gartner, Inc. (IT). They placed an “Outperform” rating and a price target of $48.00 on the company.

Nomura initiated coverage on J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP). The analysts placed a “Neutral” rating on the company.

Nomura initiated coverage on Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN). They placed a “Neutral” rating on the company.

Coverage on (GOOD) (KO) (LKFN) (LO) (MO) Initiated

Coverage on Gladstone Commercial Corp (NASDAQ: GOOD), The Coca Cola Co (NYSE: KO), Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ: LKFN), Lorillard Inc. (NYSE: LO) and Altria Group (NYSE: MO) was initiated by analysts.

Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Gladstone Commercial Corp (GOOD). They placed a “buy” rating on the company.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) initiated coverage on The Coca Cola Co (KO). They placed an “outperform” rating and a price target of $76.00 on the company.

Sterne Agee initiated coverage on Lakeland Financial Co. (LKFN). They placed a “buy” rating on the company.

Wells Fargo & Co. initiated coverage on Lorillard Inc. (LO). They placed a “market perform” rating and a price target of $108.00 on the company.

Wells Fargo & Co. initiated coverage on Altria Group (MO). They placed a “market perform” rating and a price target of $27.00 on the company.

Dividend Yields for (GIS) (PEP) (KO) (DPS) (SLE)

Indicated dividend yields for Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies General Mills Inc (GIS), PepsiCo Inc (PEP), Coca-Cola Co (KO), Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) and Sara Lee Corp (SLE).

These dividend data indicate dividend yields of companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index as of Saturday, April 30. The yield is determined by taking the latest declared dividend, annualized and divided by the price of the stock. Payout ratios are calculated based on latest quarterly dividend paid divided by earnings.

General Mills Inc (GIS) has a dividend yield of 2.90 percent on a declared dividend of $0.28. The payout ratio is 46.2 percent.

PepsiCo Inc (PEP) has a dividend yield of 2.79 percent on a declared dividend of $0.48. The payout ratio is 66.5 percent.

Coca-Cola (KO) has a dividend yield of 2.79 percent on a declared dividend of $0.47. The payout ratio is 56.7 percent.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc (DPS) has a dividend yield of 2.55 percent on a declared dividend of $0.25. The payout ratio is 49.0 percent.

Sara Lee Corp (SLE) has a dividend yield of 2.40 percent on a declared dividend of $0.12. The payout ratio is 69.9 percent.

Apple (AAPL) At Top of Fortune's 'Most Admired' List

Of the top 50 most-admired companies in the world, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) landed at the top of the list of Fortune magazine. Following closely on the heels of Apple was nemesis Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), which came in at No. 2.

Fortune said about Apple, "The company's blistering pace of new product releases has continued to set the bar high for tech companies across the board."

Following the two tech giants was Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A), Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) and Proctor & Gamble (NYSE:PG), in that order.

Others making the list were Coca Cola (NYSE:KO), in 6th place; Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) in 7th; FedEX (NYSE:FDX) in 8th; Cisco (Nasdaq:CSCO) in 9th. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) came in at 15th.

The rankings of the companies on the list were measured on innovation, people management, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, quality of management, financial soundness, long-term investment, quality of products/services and global competitiveness.

Wal-Mart (WMT), Coca-Cola Co (KO) Limit Dow Damage

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI dropped 169.38 points, or 1.39 percent, to end Tuesday at 12,056.96. If not for Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) closing in postive territory, the damage would have been much worse.

Concerns that rising oil prices could hurt economic recovery prompted investors on Tuesday to sell stocks and hedge against further declines.

The CBOE Volatility Index VIX .VIX, Wall Street's so-called fear gauge, jumped 13.1 percent to 20.75 on growing uncertainty about oil. The index measures the cost of using options as insurance against a decline in the S&P 500 .SPX index.

"We've been seeing how quickly the VIX can spike up, and there is no reason to believe that it won't double from where it is now," said Harry Rady, CEO of Rady Asset Management in San Diego, California.

Brent crude rose above $115 a barrel as supply disruptions persist and political violence spreads in the Middle East and North Africa. Higher oil translates into increased energy and gasoline costs for consumers.




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Coca-Cola (KO) Greek Bottler Issues $412.9 Million Bond

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) second-largest bottler, Coca-Cola Hellenic (HLBr.AT), announced Monday it has issued a $412.9 million bond for the purpose of refinancing maturing debt.

CCH said in a statement, "The issue was significantly oversubscribed and has been placed with a diversified investor base."

The bottler said the bond will carry a fixed 4.25 percent coupon which will be due November 16, 2016.

Proceeds will be used to refinance a bond which is expiring on July 15. The issue should settle on March 2.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and The Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE:RBS) were joint lead managers of the issue.

Coca-Cola (KO) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Ready to Jump?

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) are among large cap stocks that could be poised to break out.

If you follow investment news, you likely agree with my headline. Everybody and their mother seems to be talking about large-cap stocks. Sure, I might be a bit biased since I've been an awfully broken record on the subject.

A Bloomberg article yesterday continued the chorus. The article started with the thoughts of Michel Moreno, the CEO of oil-services company Moreno Group, saying that he's putting money into well-known, blue-chip stocks. It went on to note that Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo guru Jeremy Grantham sees the largest U.S. stocks, including Coca-Cola (KO) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) as "overdue for gains." It points out that investors put $5.2 billion into large-cap mutual funds in January. And it includes a number of other comments from investment advisors singing the praises of large caps.

So surely large caps must be soaring? Nope. Not even close. For now, the "big ups" to big companies is all lip service. Investors flocked to small caps in 2010, pulling $77 billion out of large-cap mutual funds and sending the Russell 2000 index to a 27% finish versus a 13% gain for the S&P 100. And small-caps just keep going.

But it's pretty plain to see that bargain opportunities for investors that care about valuation are harder to come by in the smaller end of the market. The average trailing and forward price-to-earnings ratio for the 100 largest U.S.-traded stocks is 17.5 and 13.5, respectively. For stocks in the $500 million to $2 billion range, the multiples are 30 and 23.3.





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TD Ameritrade (AMTD) Joins GE (GE), Coke (KO), McDonalds (MCD), Visa (V), AT&T (T) As USOC Sponsor

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:AMTD) has reportedly signed on to be a sponsor for the U.S. Olympic Committee, the first in the online broker segment to do so.

They will join others like Acer, Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Visa (NYSE:V), Anheuser-Busch (NYSE:BUD), AT&T (NYSE:T), Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW), Atos Origin, BMW Group NA, BP (NYSE:BP), General Electric (NYSE:GE), McDonald's (NYSE:MCD), Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG), Samsung, Panasonic (NYSE:PC), and Omega, which are already sponsors of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Under terms of the deal, TD Ameritrade will sponsor the U.S. Olympic team competing at the 2012 Olympics in London, and will have marketing presence on NBC, which will broadcast the 2012 Summer Games.

Fred Tomczyk, president and CEO for TD Ameritrade, said, “We make a promise each day to our clients and associates – to relentlessly strive to exceed their expectations. We believe this sponsorship – with an organization whose values so closely mirror our own – is an extension of that promise. We look forward to celebrating and sharing this pride of sponsorship with all of our clients, associates and shareholders.”

In a separate sponsorship category are "Official" USOC sponsors, which include Allstate (NYSE:ALL), Deloitte, Hilton Worldwide, Nike (NYSE:NKE), Tyson (NYSE:TSN), Jet Set Sports and United Airlines

USOC CEO Scott Blackmun said in a statement, “TD Ameritrade believes in supporting America’s athletes, and in the power and inspiration of their journeys. It is a company that upholds the Olympic ideals in its own industry, and we are happy to have them on board. This agreement ushers in a new era of partnership and cooperation between the USOC and NBC. Working together, we can bring the U.S. Olympic movement to new audiences and to new heights.”

TD Ameritrade was trading at $21.77, up $0.44, or 2.06 percent, as of 2:39 PM EST.

Coca-Cola (KO) Boosts its Dividend Once Again

Shareholders can count on receiving their dividend from Coca-Cola (KO), and in most circumstances, having it increased, as the giant beverage company did once again, with the board of directors approving a dividend of 47 cents a share, upping it by 7 percent.

That's the 49th year in a row Coca-Cola has raised their dividend, which has been paid out since 1920.

As usual, the reasoning behind raising the dividend was the confidence of the company that it will be able to continue to generate significant long-term cash flow to award shareholders with.

The dividend is payable April 1 to shareholders of record as of March 15.

Coca-Cola closed Thursday at $64.55, gaining $1.15, or 1.81 percent.

Cisco (Nasdaq:CSCO), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Nokia (NYSE:NOK), Latest to Close Offices in Egypt Over Unrest

Cisco, Coca-Cola are Nokia are the latest of a plethora of companies to close offices in Egypt until the unrest calms down, and/or security in the country improves.

Some giant banks, and other companies, have already evacuated foreign nationals from the country, while a number of companies are in the midst of doing the same. Citigroup (NYSE:C) is among those who have already evacuated non-Egyptians from the troubled nation.

Norwegian oil producer Statoil (NYSE:STO) has stopped all offshore drilling in the country until further notice.

Coca-Cola spokesman Kenth Kaerhoeg said the company won't reopen its offices until security improves.

Marc Musgrove, a spokesman for Cisco said, “We continue to stay close to our Egyptian employees, and remain prepared to respond if needed to any impact to our employees’ customers or businesses.”

Nokia spokeswoman Mona Kokkonen noted, “We have 25 people working for Nokia in Egypt and they’re working from home. We are monitoring the situation and if necessary will take action such as moving people to a safer area.” Nokia has also closed all their offices in Egypt at this time.

Coca-Cola closed Monday at $62.85, gaining $0.64, or 1.03 percent. Cisco closed at $21.15, gaining $0.22, or 1.05 percent. Nokia ended the session at $10.70, up $0.13, or 1.23 percent.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) Acquisition of CCE NA Not Accretive Till 2012

The acquisition of CCE NA by Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) won't be accretive until 2012, says UBS, saying it would have been in 2011 except of the pressures from commodities.

UBS says, "Following our most recent Coke-Tracker work (where we leverage our global analysts for local datapoints on KO’s quarter), we are reiterating our rating and raising our PT. We expect the CCE NA acquisition to have little impact on EPS before becoming accretive in ‘12. Our ‘11 EPS remains at $3.83. We note that if not for commodity pressures, the deal would have been accretive in ‘11."

UBS maintains a "Buy" rating on Coca-Cola, which was trading at $63.27, up $0.23, or 0.36 percent, as of 2:07 PM EST. UBS boosted their price target on Coca-Cola from $69 to $75.

P&G (NSYE:PG), PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP) Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Philip Morris (NYSE:PM) Top Consumer Staples Picks of Goldman (NYSE:GS)

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) is starting to like the consumer staples sector better, and their top picks include P&G (NSYE:PG), PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) and Philip Morris (NYSE:PM).

Of all of this is predicated on the assumption there will be a global and U.S. recovery, none of which are certain by any means.

It also appears brands are pulling back on their battle, which could boost margins and earnings for the companies.

All Goldman could say about the condition of the U.S. economy was that it's "less bad" than it has been; not a great generator of confidence.

The top picks of Goldman based on the assumption the U.S. economy will recover, are Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD), P&G (PG) and PepsiCo (PEP).

If things go well economically across the globe, Goldman likes Coca-Cola Company (KO) and Philip Morris International (PM).

Believing 2011 will be a strong year for acquisitions, Goldman sees Hansen (Nasdaq:HNSN), Lorillard (NYSE:LO) and Mead Johnson (NYSE:MJN) as "Buys."

Finally, assuming inflationary conditions, their favorite in the sector is General Mills (NYSE:GIS).

Proctor & Gamble were trading at $64.89, up $0.85, or 1.34 percent, as of 1:03 PM Est. Pepsico was trading at $66.66, up $0.33, or 0.50 percent. Coca-Cola was at $63.00, up $0.31, or 0.49 percent. Philip Morris was trading at $56.48, up $0.46, or 0.82 percent.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) a Gift That Keep on Giving Says Goldman (NYSE:GS)

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) continues to be the incremental growth powerhouse it has been for years, and even though they recently stated the recent acquisition of CCE's North American bottling won't have any effect on their EPS results in 2011, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) sees several factors with the company to remain bullish on them.

Goldman said, "We forecast no accretion next year, but believe KO can still deliver healthy earnings growth on 5% volume growth driven by emerging markets, continued cost savings, healthy pricing, and incremental share buybacks activity."

EPS estimates for 2010 were lowered from $3.50 to $3.49, and remained the same for 2011, at $3.83.

Goldman maintains their "Buy" rating on Coke, which closed Wednesday at $64.74, up $0.84, or 1.31 percent. They raised their price target on them from $68 to $72.

Wimm-Bill-Dann (NYSE:WBD) Soars on Pepsico (NYSE:PEP) Acquisiton Agreement

Shares of Wimm-Bill-Dann Dairy & Juice Co. (NYSE:WBD) soared on the news PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE:PEP) has agreed to acquire the majority of shares in the company for $3.8 billion, giving them controlling interest.

This move will place Pepsico as the No. 1 juice and dairy company in Russia, bypassing nemesis Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) for the spot.

The price paid for the shares will equal 66 percent of Wimm-Bill-Dann, with plans to acquire the rest, although Pepsi will have to wait to see if they receive government approval.

Based on the last month, PepsiCo paid a premium of 32 percent over the daily average share price for Wimm-Bill-Dann.

PepsiCo said the deal should add another 8 cents to the EPS of the company beginning in 2012.

Wimm-Bill-Dann was trading at $31.20, gaining $6.70, or 27.35 percent at 2:09 PM EST. PepsiCo was at $64.88, rising by $0.75, or 1.14 percent.

Goldman (NYSE:GS) Shrinks Estimates on Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Philip Morris (NYSE:PM), Sara Lee (NYSE:SLE) and Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE:CCE) on Forex

Citing the strengthening of the U.S. dollar in the midst of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) has lowered their estimates on a number of food, beverage and tobacco stocks, with Goldman saying Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE:PM), Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE:SLE) and Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (NYSE:CCE) expected to have the most negative impact on them.

For the broader food, beverage, & tobacco sector, Goldman lowered the estimates by a range of 1 to 2 percent. For the companies named above, they're estimates were lowered by a range of 2 to 3 percent.

Below are the changed EPS estimates of Goldman for the companies in the sector:

Coca-Cola: reiterated FY10 EPS at $3.50, full year 2011 lowered from $3.90 to $3.83.

Coca-Cola Enterprises: kept full year 2010 EPS at $3.50, full year 2011 lowered from $2.04 to $1.99.

Kellogg Company (NYSE:K): maintained full year 2010 EPS at $3.29, full year 2011 lowered from $3.50 to $3.48

Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB): cut full year 2011 EPS estimates from $2.50 to $2.48 and full year 2012 from $2.68 to $2.65.

Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE:KFT): maintained full year 2010 EPS at $3.29, full year 2011 dropped from $2.28 to $2.25.

PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP): maintained full year 2010 EPS at $4.12, full year 2011 lowered from $4.65 to $4.63.

Philip Morris International Inc.: full year 2010 lowered from $3.89 to $3.85, full year 2011 lowered from $4.62 to $4.45.

Sara Lee Corp.: full year 2011 EPS lowered form $0.86 to $0.84, full year 2012 lowered from $0.95 to $0.91.

Fortune Brands (NYSE:FO): reiterated full year 2010 EPS at $2.77, full year 2011 lowered from $3.68 to $3.66

Coca-Cola was trading at $64.64, gaining $1.47, or 2.32 percent at 1:16 PM EST. Coca-Cola Enterprises was at $24.65, increasing by $0.50, or 2.07 percent. Philip Morris International, Inc. was at $57.62, rising by $0.73, or 1.28 percent, Sara Lee Corp. was up to $15.29, increasing $0.29, or 1.93 percent. Kellog rose to $49.42, gaining $0.19, or 0.39 percent. Campbell Soup increased to $34.15, rising by $0.25, or 0.74 percent. Kraft pushed to $30.65, rising $0.40, or 1.32 percent. Pepsico pressed to $65.36, gaining $1.21, or 1.89 percent. Fortune Brands rose to $60.54, increasing by $1.45, or 2.45 percent.

Interesting that all the stocks mentioned by Goldman were up today in spite of the Forex concerns.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) to Accelerate in 2011 Say Barclays (NYSE:BCS)

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) said they see Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) moving ahead on all cylinders going into 2011, citing flexibility with $13 billion in cash on hand, and their deal with CCE closed.

"With the CCE transaction now closed and still more than $13 billion in cash on the balance sheet, we envision accelerating KO growth in 2011...We are raising our KO price target and our FY11 EPS estimate to $3.90 from $3.85. With accelerating underlying fundamentals and ample financial flexibility, we see the shares trading in a $64-$74 range. Our new $74 price target is based on a 19.0x P/E multiple. In our opinion, such a premium valuation is warranted as KO reclaims its mantle as the premier CPG company delivering top-tier and high-quality top- and bottom-line results," said Barclays.

Coca-Cola close at $64.27 Monday, falling $0.05, or 0.08 percent. Barclays raised their price target on them from $68 to $74, while maintaining their "Overweight" rating.