Gap (GPS) (PSUN) (QEP) (SAP) (EGO) (FCFS) (GPS) Upgraded

The Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS), Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc. (NASDAQ: PSUN), QEP Resources (NYSE: QEP), SAP Aktiengesellschaft (NYSE: SAP), Eldorado Gold Co. (NYSE: EGO), First Cash Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCFS) and The Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) were upgraded by analysts.

Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc. (PSUN) was upgraded by Janney Montgomery Scott from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $4.00 on the company.

QEP Resources (QEP) was upgraded by Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) from an “Outperform” rating to a “Strong Buy” rating.

SAP Aktiengesellschaft (SAP) was upgraded by BNP Paribas from an “Underperform” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Eldorado Gold Co. (EGO) was upgraded by UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating.

First Cash Financial Services, Inc. (FCFS) was upgraded by Jefferies Group (NYSE:JEF) from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating.

The Gap Inc. (GPS) was upgraded by Standpoint Research from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $22.00 on the company.

Cisco (CSCO) (ARLP) (CAVM) (CP) (GPS) (JCP) (MBLX) Upgraded

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Alliance Resource (NASDAQ: ARLP), Cavium Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAVM), Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (NYSE: CP), The Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS), J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) and Metabolix Inc (NASDAQ: MBLX) upgraded by analysts.

Alliance Resource (ARLP) was upgraded by Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) from an “Underperform” rating to a “Market Perform” rating.

Cavium Networks, Inc. (CAVM) was upgraded by Gleacher & Co. to a “Buy” rating.

Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP) was upgraded by RBC Capital from an “Outperform” rating to a “Top Pick” Rating. They have a $73.00 price target on the company, up from $72.00.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) was upgraded by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $21.00 on the company.

The Gap Inc. (GPS) was upgraded by Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $25.00 on the company.

J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP) was upgraded by CRT Capital to a “Buy” rating.

Metabolix Inc. (MBLX) was upgraded by Ardour Capital from a “Sell” rating to a “Reduce” rating. They have a price target of $5.00 on the company, down from $6.00.

Dividends on (RNR) (GPS) (UHS) (EMCF) (APC) Declared

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd (NYSE:RNR), Gap Inc. (NYSE:GPS), Universal Health Services Inc (NYSE:UHS), Emclaire Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:EMCF) and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:APC) declare dividends.

The Board of Directors of RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd (RNR) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.26 per share payable 6/30/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/15/11.

The Board of Directors of Gap Inc. (GPS) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.1125 per share payable 7/27/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 7/6/11.

The Board of Directors of Universal Health Services Inc (UHS) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.05 per share payable 6/15/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/1/11.

The Board of Directors of Emclaire Financial Corp. (EMCF) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.16 per share payable 6/17/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/1/11.

The Board of Directors of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (APC) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.09 per share payable 6/22/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/8/11.

Price Targets on (FOSL) (GMCR) (GPS) (HANS) (LEA) Updated

Analysts updated their price targets on Fossil (NASDAQ: FOSL), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR), The Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS), Hansen Natural Co. (NASDAQ: HANS) and Lear Co. (NYSE: LEA) today.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) raised their price target on Fossil (FOSL) from $100.00 to $115.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Canaccord Genuity raised their price target on Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (GMCR) to $97.00.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) cut their price target on The Gap Inc. (GPS) from $25.00 to $22.00. They have a “hold” rating on the company.

Citigroup raised their price target on Hansen Natural Co. (HANS) from $58.00 to $65.00.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) raised their price target on Lear Co. (LEA) to $50.00. They have an “underweight” rating on the company.

March Retail (TGT) (COST) (BJ) (JCP) Sales Mixed

As expected, March retail sales were mixed today as a number of retailers reported for the month earlier in the session.

Discounters like Costco (NASDAQ:COST) and BJ's Wholesale (NYSE:BJ) soared as expected, along with high end stores like Saks (NYSE:SKS).

Limited (NYSE:LTD) was the top performer of the companies reporting today, with sales jumping 14 percent in March.

Worst in the group was Kohl's (NYSE:KSS), whose sales fell 6.5 percent last month.

Here are those retailers with sales gains in March:

Costco (COST) - up 8%; Macy's (NYSE: M) - up 0.9%; Limited (LTD) - up 14%; The Buckle (NYSE:BKE) - up 8.4%; Zumiez (NASDAQ:ZUMZ) - up 8.9%; BJ's Wholesale (BJ) - up 5.3%; Saks (SKS) - up 11.1%; and Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) - up 5.1%.

Retailers which lost sales in March:

Target (NYSE:TGT) - down 5.5%; JCPenney (NYSE:JCP) - down 0.3%; Gap (NYSE:GPS) - down 10%; Kohl's (KSS) - down 6.5%; TJX (NYSE:TJX) - down 1%; and Hot Topic (Nasdaq:HOTT) - down 5%.

Goldman Sachs (GS) Sees (OMX), (ANF), (AEO), (RSH), (ANN), (GPS), (SWY) in LBO Deals

The retail sector could be about to explode in LBO deals, according to Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), which sees the probability of LBO's for Safeway (NYSE:SWY), The Children's Place Retail Stores (NASDAQ:PLCE), OfficeMax (NYSE:OMX), Ross Stores (Nasdaq:ROST), Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF), American Eagle Outfitters, (NYSE:AEO), Aeropostale (NYSE:ARO), RadioShack (NYSE:RSH), AnnTaylor Stores (NYSE), Dollar Tree (DLTR) and Gap (NYSE:GPS).

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) got a nice bump up on Wednesday on LBO rumors, so we'll probably start to see a lot of trading in the sector as rumors escalate, with a number of them probably being true, as pointed out by Goldman.

These are just some of the probabilities in the retail sector, which could consolidate even more.

Goldman determines that about $9 billion could be spent on U.S. retail LBOs. Of a universe of over 120 public companies, that equates to close to 8 percent of the overall aggregate enterprise value. That's how they came up with the 11 companies listed above, as far as the number of companies which are likely to be part of an LBO.

Goldman sees a 15 percent to 30 percent chance of a leveraged buy out for the companies listed above.

Standpoint Goes Positive on Gap (NYSE:GPS)

Gap had its rating boosted by Standpoint Research, as they said it was among the worst performers in the S&P during January, it was oversold.

Standpoint says, "GPS has dropped $2.80 (12.4%) since our downgrade and will probably start to head back up on same store sales and raised guidance news from pre-market this morning. Our target for next year is $24 (or 12X $2.00 in earnings potential). GPS was one of the worst performing names in the S&P during January and was oversold along with many others in its industry."

Standpoint upgraded Gap from "Hold" to "Buy." Gap was trading at $19.75, gaining $0.72, or 3.78 percent, as of 12:18 M EST. Standpoint has a price target of $24 on Gap.

99 Cents Only (NYSE:NDN), Aeropostale (NYSE:ARO), American Eagle (NYSE:AEO) Named Top LBO Candidates for 2011 by Deutsche (NYSE:DB)

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) released an interesting list of takeover candidates for 2011 in the U.S retail sector, using a metric of those which would probably generate 20 percent premium or more, with their top possibilities being 99 Cents Only (NYSE:NDN), Aeropostale (NYSE:ARO) and American Eagle (NYSE:AEO).

Other big names they consider leading candidates, although not as probable as the three above, were Macy's (NYSE: M), Saks (NYSE:SKS), RadioShack (NYSE:RSH), The Buckle (NYSE:BKE), Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), AnnTaylor (NYSE:ANN), Big Lots (NYSE:BIG) and Gap (NYSE:GPS)

99 Cents Only closed at $15.65 Monday, gaining $0.08, or 0.51 percent. Aeropostale closed at $25.21, up $0.38, or 1.53 percent. American Eagle ended the session at $14.37, down $0.09, or 0.62 percent.

Target (NYSE:TGT), Costco (Nasdaq:COST), Macy's (NYSE:M), Gap (NYSE:GPS) Plunge on Weak December Sales

Christmas sales in December came in way under expectations, hammering the retail sector, with stocks like Target (NYSE:TGT), Costco (Nasdaq:COST), Macy's (NYSE:M) and Gap (NYSE:GPS) plummeting on the news.

While sales in November were strong, all of that was discount-generated, and it'll come down to margins and earnings as to whether that will ultimately be viewed as a positive, with the probability of low earnings being the result.

For the period of October 31 through January 1, same-store sales grew by 3.8 percent for the retail sector from last year during the same quarter, the best performance since 2006. But again, the bottom line is earnings not sales, and that's what we have yet to hear.

Another problem heading into 2011 is the training of customers to expect bargains at a time when clothing prices will be going up because of increasing prices of cotton.

Those attempting to spin this as a great season are delusional. Even the high-end retailers had to discount in order to attract customers. Their sales were better as a result, but at the cost of earnings.

Costco closed Thursday at $70.65, down $0.34, or 0.48 percent. Macy's closed at $23.97, down $1.00, or 4.00 percent. Gap ended the session at $20.70, down $1.53, or 6.88 percent. Target closed the day at $54.93, down $4.01, or 6.80 percent.

Gap (NYSE:GPS) Approaching Historical High, Downgraded

Gap (NYSE:GPS) is moving toward its historical high, and in response Standpoint Research has downgraded the stock after a strong runup over the last several months.

Standpoint said, "We picked The Gap GPS off its bottom when it broke below $18 on August 19. The shares have jumped > 25% since the recommendation and beat our benchmark S&P-500 by > 1000 basis points. Our target was $24 for 2011-2012. We got 75% of the $6 (33%) gain we were looking for in less than five months and have decided to lock this in. GPS is now trading at 1X sales and that is pressing up towards the top of its historical trading range – Side Note: Our Dec-14 recommendation Best Buy BBY is at < 0.3X. GPS is now trading at 12.4X trailing twelve months (record) earnings of $1.80 and 11.6X ($1.93) estimates for 2011-2012."

Gap, Inc., which was downgraded to "Hold," closed Friday at $22.14, dropping $0.32, or 1.42 percent.

Gap (NYSE:GPS) Promotional Activity Concerns Analysts

While the promotional activities of Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS) will drive more traffic to their stores, concerns it may be training customers to wait for sales has Needham & Company concerned.

Needham said, "At -10x our FY11 EPS estimate of $1.84, GPS is trading below the sector average of -13x but in-line with low-end of its long term organic growth rate of 10% to 12%, which we think is a fair valuation at this time. While we think that product continues to look better Y/Y, we are concerned that increased promotional activity at both Gap and BR, (while effective traffic drivers), is training the customer to wait for sales. Lower sourcing costs have offset promotional activity, resulting in continued margin expansion, which could moderate going forward as sourcing costs are expected to increase in F2H10 or F1H11."

Needman maintains a "Hold" rating on Gap, which closed Friday at $20.70, dropping $0.21, or 1.00 percent.