Price Targets on (LNT) (MCHP) (MRX) (MTZ) (NGLS) Upgraded

Price Targets on Alliant Energy Corp. (NYSE: LNT), Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP), Medicis Pharmaceutic (NYSE: MRX), MasTec, Inc. (NYSE: MTZ) and Targa Resources Partners LP (NASDAQ:NGLS) were upgraded by analysts.

Barclays Capital raised their price target on Alliant Energy Corp. (LNT) from $38.00 to $41.00. They have an “equal weight” rating on the company.

Barclays Capital raised their price target on Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) from $40.00 to $45.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) raised their price target on Medicis Pharmaceutic (MRX) from $30.00 to $37.00. They have a “neutral” rating on the company.

Barclays Capital raised their price target on MasTec, Inc. (MTZ) from $22.00 to $24.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

Barclays Capital raised their price target on Targa Resources Partners LP (NGLS) from $37.00 to $39.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

Coverage on (CRL) (MTZ) (PWR) (PFE) (MRK) Initiated by Analysts

Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE:CRL), Mastec Inc. (NYSE:MTZ), Quanta Services Inc. (NYSE:PWR), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and Merck (NYSE:MRK) had coverage initiated on them by analysts.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) initiated coverage on Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (CRL), starting them off with a "Hold" rating. They lowered their price target from $44 to $41.50 on the company.

FBR Capital Markets initiated coverage on Mastec Inc. (MTZ), starting them off with an "Outperform" rating.

FBR Capital Markets initiated coverage on Quanta Services Inc. (PWR), starting them off with an "Underperform" rating. They lowered their price target from $20 to $19 on the company.

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) initiated coverage on Pfizer Inc. (PFE), starting them off with an "Outperform" rating. They placed a price target of $23 on the company.

Credit Suisse initiated coverage on Merck (NYSE:MRK), starting them off with an "Outperform" rating. They placed a price target of $44 on the company.

MasTec's (NYSE:MTZ) EPS Lowered After Earn-Out Payment

MasTec (NYSE:MTZ) had their EPS estimates lowered after the earn-out payment which diluted the shares.

FBR said, "The company guides and reports GAAP EPS, which is what we provide to FirstCall. Our GAAP EPS estimate for 2010 is unchanged at $0.99, but we are lowering our 2011 estimate to $1.14 (from $1.17) to reflect the dilution of the shares issued for this earn-out payment. However, investors should also note that cash EPS 'after earn-out liabilities' (which are not reflected on the balance sheet, but due upon achievement of certain hurdles) is estimated to be $1.08 in 2010 and $0.93 in 2011. The decline YOY is a function of a $0.22 greater earn-out liability payment in 2010 before this recent agreement."

FBR Capital reiterates an "Outperform" rating on MasTec, which closed Wednesday at $14.54, down $0.14, or 0.95 percent. FBR has a price target of $19 on MasTec.

Dycom (NYSE:DY), MasTec (NYSE:MTZ) Organic Growth Looks Strong

Reporting on a field trip they made to Dycom (NYSE:DY) and MasTec (NYSE:MTZ), withing the Diversified Industrials/Specialty Contracting. FBR Capital said they came away with a positive outlook for Dycom (NYSE:DY) and MasTec (NYSE:MTZ) within the sector.

FBR said, "Last week, we hosted a field trip to visit the management teams of Dycom Industries and MasTec. We walked away from the meetings with high conviction that business opportunities will accelerate in 2011 across a number of end markets, including wireline and wireless telecommunications, and electric transmission. An important characteristic of the improvement expected in this cycle is that the breadth of opportunities, which is across many customers, is providing greater project selectivity, which in turn should provide favorable pricing and margin expansion. In addition, much of the growth appears to be through multiyear programs, which improves long-term visibility for the contractors. The valuations also remain attractive relative to historical levels, particularly given growth prospects. DY currently trades at 4.5x CY2011 EV/EBITDA, versus its historical average of 8.5x. MTZ currently trades at 6.0x estimated 2011 EV/EBITDA (inclusive of earnout liability), versus the peer historical average of around 10x. Given the improving prospects for organic revenue growth, we expect valuation multiples to expand back to historical levels."

Dycom closed Tuesday at $14.62, up $0.23, or 1.60 percent. MasTec closed at $14.04, down $0.29, or 2.02 percent.