Brown Shoe (BWS) (JWN) (MDT) (SFL) (SWY) Declare Dividends

The Board of Directors of Brown Shoe Company Inc. (NYSE:BWS) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.07 per share payable 10/3/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 9/16/11.

The Board of Directors of Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE:JWN) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.23 per share payable 9/15/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 9/6/11.

The Board of Directors of Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) declared a second quarter common stock dividend of $0.2425 per share payable 10/28/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 10/7/11.

The Board of Directors of Ship Finance International (NYSE:SFL) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.39 per share payable 9/29/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 9/9/11.

The Board of Directors of Safeway Inc. (NYSE:SWY) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.145 per share payable 10/13/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 9/22/11.

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.

Veeco (VECO) (SWY) (SIVB) (PLCM) (MSFT) (KSU) Price Targets Changed

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO), Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY), SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ: SIVB), Polycom (NASDAQ: PLCM), Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU) price targets adjusted by analysts.

Veeco Instruments Inc. (VECO) had its price target lowered by UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) from $55.00 to $51.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

Safeway Inc. (SWY) had its price target lowered by Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) to $22.00. They have a “Neutral” rating on the company.

SVB Financial Group (SIVB) had its price target raised by RBC Capital from $60.00 to $64.00. They have a “Sector Perform” rating on the company.

Polycom (PLCM) had its price target raised by RBC Capital from $32.50 to $35.00. They have an “Outperform” rating on the company.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) had its price target raised by UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) from $32.00 to $33.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Kansas City Southern (KSU) had its price target raised by Sterne Agee to $65.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

Dividends on (SGK) (SWY) (TIF) (WU) (XEC) Declared

SCHAWK INC (NYSE:SGK), Safeway Inc. (NYSE:SWY), Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF), Western Union Co. (NYSE:WU) and Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE:XEC) declare dividends.

The Board of Directors of SCHAWK INC (SGK) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.08 per share payable 6/30/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/15/11.

The Board of Directors of Safeway Inc. (SWY) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.145 per share payable 7/4/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/23/11.

The Board of Directors of Tiffany & Co. (TIF) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.29 per share payable 7/11/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/20/11.

The Board of Directors of Western Union Co. (WU) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.08 per share payable 6/30/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/17/11.

The Board of Directors of Cimarex Energy Co. (XEC) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.10 per share payable 9/1/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 8/15/11.

Ratings on (SWY) (TWTC) (UPL) (USM) Reiterated by Analysts Today

Analysts reiterated their ratings on Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY), TW Telecom (NASDAQ: TWTC), Ultra Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: UPL) and United States Cellular Corporation (NYSE: USM) today.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) reiterated a “neutral” rating on Safeway Inc. (SWY). They have a price target of $25.00 on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reiterated an “equal weight” rating on TW Telecom (TWTC).

Global Hunter Securities reiterated an “accumulate” rating on Ultra Petroleum Corp. (UPL).

Goldman Sachs reiterated a “neutral” rating on Ultra Petroleum Corp. (UPL).

Gabelli reiterated a “buy” rating on United States Cellular Corporation (USM).

Price Targets On (POT) (MSI) (RIMM) (SIMO) (SWY) Updated

Potash Corp (NYSE: POT), Motorola Solutions (NYSE: MSI), Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM), Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (NASDAQ: SIMO) and Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) had their price targets updated by analysts.

Barclays Capital (NYSE:BCS) raised their price target on Motorola Solutions (MSI) from $40.00 to $42.00. They have an “equal weight” rating on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) raised their price target on Potash Corp (POT) to $195.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

Barclays Capital cut their price target on shares of Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) from $85.00 to $77.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

Needham & Company raised their price target on Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (NASDAQ: SIMO) from $10.00 to $15.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) raised their price target on Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) from $25.00 to $28.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Dividend Yields for (SWY) (KR) (WAG) (CVS) (COST)

Indicated dividend yields for Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies Safeway Inc (SWY), Kroger Co (KR), Walgreen Co (WAG), CVS Caremark Corp (CVS) and Costco Wholesale Corp (COST).

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.

Safeway Inc (SWY) has a dividend yield of 1.97 percent on a declared dividend of $0.12. The payout ratio is 175.0 percent.

Kroger Co (KR) has a dividend yield of 1.73 percent on a declared dividend of $0.10. The payout ratio is 23.6 percent.

Walgreen Co (WAG) has a dividend yield of 1.64 percent on a declared dividend of $0.17. The payout ratio is 21.9 percent.

CVS Caremark Corp (CVS) has a dividend yield of 1.38 percent on a declared dividend of $0.12. The payout ratio is 11.6 percent.

Costco Wholesale Corp (COST) has a dividend yield of 1.19 percent on a declared dividend of $0.24. The payout ratio is 25.7 percent.

Federal Signal (FSS) (LXK) (ROP) (SMP) (SWY) Get Ratings Downgrades

Federal Signal Co. (NYSE: FSS), Lexmark International, Inc. (NYSE: LXK), Roper Industries Inc (NYSE: ROP), Standard Motor Produ (NYSE: SMP) and Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) get analyst downgrades.

BMO Capital Markets downgraded Federal Signal Co. (FSS) from an “Outperform” rating to a “Market Perform” rating. They place a price target of $7 on the company. The downgraded catalyst was based on valuation.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) downgraded Lexmark International, Inc. (LXK) from a “Buy” rating to a “Hold” rating. They set a price target of $36 on the firm, down from $55.

Oppenheimer downgraded Roper Industries Inc (ROP) from an “Outperform” rating to a “Perform” rating.

BB&T (NYSE:BBT) downgraded Standard Motor Produ (SMP) from a “Buy” rating to a “Hold” rating.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) downgraded Safeway Inc. (SWY) from a “Buy” rating to a “Hold” rating. They set a price target of $25.00 on the company, down from $26.

Lexmark (LXK) (GRM) (QCOM) (SWY) Get Ratings Updates

Shares of Lexmark (NYSE:LXK), Graham Packaging (NYSE:GRM), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) and Safeway (SWY) all received ratings updates from various brokerages.

Graham Packaging (GRM) was downgraded by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) from "Buy" to "Neutral." Goldman Sachs has a price target of $24 on Graham. Goldman said that valuation was the catalyst, as the stock has surged 38 percent over the last couple of weeks.

Lexmark (LXK) was downgraded at Brean from "Buy" to "Hold." Lexmark is challenged by new headwinds in sales and margins.

Qualcomm (QCOM) was rated a new "Buy" at ThinkEquity. It has a price target of $5 on them. ThinkEquity sees Qualcomm as the best large-cap chip play on smartphones and tablets.

Safeway (SWY) was downgraded at Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) from "Buy" to "Hold." According to a store manager survey, in the short term trends are getting worse. Jefferies placed a $25 price target on Safeway.

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.

Safeway (NYSE:SWY), Kroger (NYSE:KR), Winn-Dixie (Nasdaq:WINN) Dragged Down by Supervalu's (NYSE:SVU) Performance

Supervalu (NYSE:SVU) had a disastrous third quarter, generating concerns the overall grocery sector could be under pressure, including Safeway (NYSE:SWY), Kroger (NYSE:KR) and Winn-Dixie (Nasdaq:WINN).

Consequently, the shares of Safeway, Kroger and Winn-Dixie are all down today in response to the pressure.

Grocers, including Supervalu, implemented a costly promotional strategy for the Christmas season to attract consumers to the stores.

With Supervalu failing to produce from their efforts, the question is how the other grocers, and ultimately, buy extension, other retailers fared as well.

Safeway was trading at $20.95, down $0.21, or 0.99 percent, as of 1:00 PM EST. Supervalu fell to $7.65, down 0.94, or 10.94 percent. Kroger was trading at $21.38, down $0.16, or 0.72 percent. Winn-Dixie was trading at $6.33, losing $0.08, or 1.25 percent.