Trina (TSL) (GG) (AKS) (GLW) (HES) (WLL) (NEE) Downgraded

Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL), Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG), AK Steel Holding Co. (NYSE: AKS), Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW), Hess Corp (NYSE: HES), Whiting Petroleum Co. (NYSE: WLL) and NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) downgraded by analysts.

AK Steel Holding Co. (AKS) was downgraded by Susquehanna from a “Positive” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Goldcorp Inc. (GG) was downgraded by TD Newcrest to a “Buy” rating.

Corning Inc. (GLW) was downgraded by Credit Agricole to an "Outperform” rating.

Hess Corp. (HES) was downgraded by Howard Weil from an “Outperform” rating to a “Market Perform” rating. They have a price target of $84.00 on the company.

Trina Solar (TSL) was downgraded by Collins Stewart from a “Buy” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Whiting Petroleum Co. (WLL) was downgraded by BMO Capital Markets from an “Outperform” rating to a “Market Perform” rating.

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE) was downgraded by Robert W. Baird from an “Outperform” rating to a “Neutral” rating. They have a price target of $59.00 on the company.

Allied (ANV) (EGN) (NEE) (SWY) (SYMC) (AKAM) (BMC) Ratings Reiterated

Allied Nevada Gold Corp (NYSE: ANV), Energen (NYSE: EGN), NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY), Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC), Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM) and BMC Software, Inc. (NYSE: BMC) ratings reiterated by analysts.

Dahlman Rose reiterated its "Buy" rating on Allied Nevada Gold Corp. (ANV). They have a price target of $53.76 on the company.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) reiterated its "Buy" rating on Energen (EGN).

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) reiterated its "Buy" rating on NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE). They have a price target of $62.50 on the company.

Citigroup reiterated its "Hold" rating on Safeway Inc. (SWY). They have a price target of $23.00 on the company.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) reiterated an "Overweight" rating on Symantec (SYMC). They have a price target of $26.00 on the company.

Oppenheimer reiterated a "Market Perform" rating on Akamai Technologies (AKAM).

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "Underweight" rating on BMC Software, Inc. (BMC). They have a price target of $35.00 on the company.

Price Targets (LONG) (LOW) (MUR) (NEE) (OMX) Weekly Recap

Price targets on shares of eLong, Inc. (NASDAQ: LONG), Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW), Murphy Oil Corp (NYSE: MUR), NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) and Officemax Inc (NYSE: OMX) updated by analysts during the last week.

BMC Equities Research raised their price target on eLong, Inc. (LONG) from $17.00 to $20.00.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) raised their price target on Lowe’s (LOW) from $26.00 to $28.00. They have a “hold” rating on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) cut their price target on Murphy Oil Corp (MUR) to $90.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

Wunderlich raised their price target on NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE) from $60.00 to $64.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Oppenheimer cut their price target on Officemax Inc (OMX) from $18.00 to $14.00. They have an “outperform” rating on the company.

Price Targets on (VIT) (LONG) (LOW) (MUR) (NEE) Updated

Price targets on shares of VanceInfo Technologies Inc. (NYSE: VIT), eLong, Inc. (NASDAQ: LONG), Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW), Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW), Murphy Oil Corp (NYSE: MUR) and NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) were updated by analysts.

Kaufman Brothers cut their price target on VanceInfo Technologies Inc. (VIT) from $37.00 to $34.00. They have a “hold” rating on the company.

BMC Equities Research raised their price target on eLong, Inc. (LONG) from $17.00 to $20.00.

Piper Jaffray (NYSE:PJC) cut their price target on Lowe’s (LOW) from $28.00 to $27.00. They have a “neutral” rating on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) cut their price target on Murphy Oil Corp (MUR) to $90.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

Wunderlich raised their price target on NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE) from $60.00 to $64.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Ratings on (VRTX) (NEE) (PEG) (PPL) Reiterated

Ratings on Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX), NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (NYSE: PEG) and PPL Co. (NYSE: PPL) were reiterated by analysts.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reiterated an “underweight” rating on Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX).

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) reiterated a “neutral” rating on NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE).

Goldman Sachs reiterated a “neutral” rating on Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PEG).

Goldman Sachs reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of PPL Co. (PPL).

EPS Est. on (MRK) (NEE) (SWN) Raised

Merck & Co Inc (NYSE: MRK), NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) and Southwestern Energy (NYSE: SWN) get EPS estimates raised today.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) raised their EPS estimate on Merck & Co Inc (MRK). They have a “buy” rating and a price target of $40.00 on the company.

Wunderlich raised their EPS estimate on NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE). They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) raised their EPS estimate on Southwestern Energy (SWN). They have a “neutral” rating and a price target of $46.00 on the company.

Dividend Yields for (CMS) (XEL) (PCG) (NEE) (SRE)

Indicated dividend yields for Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies CMS Energy Corp (CMS), Xcel Energy Inc (XEL), PG&E Corp (PCG), NextEra Energy Inc (NEE) and Sempra Energy (SRE).

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.

CMS Energy Corp (CMS) has a dividend yield of 4.24 percent on a declared dividend of $0.21. The payout ratio is 39.8 percent.

Xcel Energy Inc (XEL) has a dividend yield of 4.15 percent on a declared dividend of $0.25. The payout ratio is 59.7 percent.

PG&E Corp (PCG) has a dividend yield of 3.95 percent on a declared dividend of $0.46. The payout ratio is 56.1 percent.

NextEra Energy Inc (NEE) has a dividend yield of 3.89 percent on a declared dividend of $0.55. The payout ratio is 79.3.

Sempra Energy (SRE) has a dividend yield of 3.49 percent on a declared dividend of $0.48. The payout ratio is 33.4 percent.

Berkshire (BRK-A) (GOOG) Interested in Wind Turbines?

Even though wind power isn't the most reliable source of energy, some companies, including Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A) has apparently shown some interest in wind turbines, according to a couple of the world's largest manufacturers.

The interest of Google and Berkshire Hathaway allegedly stem from railroads in the case of Berkshire, and large computer server farms with Google.

Andris Cukurs, head of North American operations at Suzlon Energy Ltd. (SUEL), said, “Railroads could be huge potential customers of wind turbines, and companies like Google have already shown some interest. We expect to see more large energy consumers get involved directly in wind.”

Even so, orders have been falling in the case of developers in the U.S. like NextEra Energy Inc. (NYSE:NEE) and Exelon Corp. (NYSE:EXC), pushing wind turbine manufacturers to seek other customers outside of independent power producers.

Martha Wyrsch, president of Vestas’s unit in the region, added, “In North America, we’ve totally restructured our sales force and hired more engineers to work with customers that don’t have much experience with wind farms. We are seeing a lot of interest from carbon-conscious companies that we never saw before.”

With wind turbine sales about 30 percent below 2009 levels in 2011, and expected to stay that way for the year, the industry is struggling, and when asked about interest in wind turbines, it's only in the sense of delivering parts, not for the company's own use, casting a shadow on some of the assertions made.

Google for their part, also hasn't ordered any wind turbines to build wind farms, although they did offer to help develop a $5 billion high-voltage transmission line that could connect to offshore wind turbines off the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to Virginia.

In conclusion, it appears the secondary connection of Berkshire and Google was used to make it look like interest was growing outside of the base wind turbine customers, when neither of the company's have had an interest in purchasing the turbines themselves.

Will NRG Energy (NRG), Southern (SO), SCANA (SCG), NextEra (NEE), Progress (PGN), Duke (DUK) Continue U.S. Nuclear Plans?

NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG), Southern (NYSE:SO), SCANA (NYSE:SCG), NextEra (NYSE:NEE), Progress Energy (NYSE:PGN) and Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) are either building or had plans to build nuclear facilities in the United States. That is all on hold now as the companies wait to see how it may impact the overall sector, as well as the expected rise in prices.

The bottom line in all of this is the response by regulators in relationship to a worst-case-scenario, which some believe will be redefined.

If it's redefined to outrageous levels, the costs of nuclear energy, at least in the U.S. and western countries, may become prohibitive.

"This is going to impose significant costs, perhaps material costs, before we are done," said John Rowe, chairman of Chicago-based power company Exelon Corp (NYSE:EXC), the largest operator of nuclear power plants in the United States.

Other nations understand there can never be a perfect solution as far as risk goes, and you do the very best you can to reduce that risk while supplying whatever product you've produced.

Hopefully those with agendas and who live in fear aren't allowed to win the day with nuclear in the U.S., as it's a vital part of the future of energy, and many other countries will continue to use it to generate energy for their people.




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NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE), AES (NYSE:AES) Top Power Stock Picks of Barclays

The theme in power continues to be away from those with heavy exposure to natural gas, which is a major reason the favorite pick of Barclays in that space is NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE). They also like AES (NYSE:AES) based on prospects in global infracstructure.

Barclays said, "Margins have been bifurcated, as spark and quark spreads have shown signs of life, as gas plants have been run harder on-peak, resulting in less efficient units setting marginal price. Dark spreads, however, have been down on the front end of the curve, and very slightly positive on the back end. In this mixed backdrop, power stocks did very little on an absolute basis in 4Q10, although the group showed some predictable strength going into the last 2 weeks of the year as investors positioned for a more pro-cyclical opening to 2011 trading. We believe the short-term move up in prices and heat rates is a token of the winter peak, and not a sign of longer-term repair in the power markets. With natural gas expected to be weak throughout 2011, we still don't believe the rally is real, and would position in stocks that are more hedged against the prolonged weakness in gas, or that represent a way to play global infrastructure growth, rather than being tied to the US markets.

"We would be positioned in power stocks that have relatively less exposure to natural gas and power prices at the moment - with our favorite being NextEra Energy - or stocks with global infrastructure growth prospects such as AES Corp."

NextEra Energy closed Wednesday at $52.34, down $0.41, or 0.78 percent. AES closed at $12.77, up $0.17, or 1.35 percent.