Validus (VR) (WFR) (YUM) (ALU) (ARC) (CONN) Upgraded

Validus Holdings, Ltd. (NYSE: VR), MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR), Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM), Alcatel Lucent (NYSE: ALU), American Reprographics Company (NYSE: ARC) and CONN’S, Inc. (NASDAQ: CONN) were upgraded by analysts.

Validus Holdings, Ltd. (VR) was upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $38.00 on the company.

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (WFR) was upgraded by Collins Stewart from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $5.50 on the company.

Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM) was upgraded by Sanford C. Bernstein from a “Market Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

Alcatel Lucent (ALU) was upgraded by Sanford C. Bernstein from a “Market Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

American Reprographics Company (ARC) was upgraded by Sidoti from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating.

CONN’S, Inc. (CONN) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “Neutral” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

Ebix (EBIX) (SPPI) (TXN) (YUM) (BEN) (CIEN) Ratings, Price Targets

Ebix, Inc. (EBIX), Spectrum Pharma (SPPI), Texas Instruments (TXN), Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM), Franklin Resources, Inc. (BEN) and Ciena Corp. (CIEN) ratings and price targets.

Rodman & Renshaw reiterated its “Outperform” rating on Spectrum Pharma (SPPI).

Barclays Capital reiterated its “Equalweight” rating on Texas Instruments (TXN).

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) raised its price target on Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM) to $62.00.

Barclays Capital reiterated its “Overweight” rating on Franklin Resources, Inc. (BEN).

Barclays Capital reiterated its “Overweight” rating on Ciena Corp. (CIEN).

Singular Research reiterated its “Buy” rating on Ebix, Inc. (EBIX).

Viacom (VIA) (VRNT) (YUM) (ACE) (APEI) (ARE) Ratings Reiterated

Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA), Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNT), Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM), ACE Ltd (NYSE: ACE), American Public Education (NASDAQ: APEI) and Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE) had ratings on them reiterated by analysts.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) reiterated its "Buy" rating on Viacom Inc. (VIA).

Oppenheimer reiterated its "Outperform" rating on Verint Systems Inc. (VRNT). They have a price target of $45.00 on the company.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) reiterated its "Sell" rating on Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM). They have a price target of $53.00 on the company.

ACE Ltd (ACE) had its “Neutral” rating reiterated by Zacks Investment Research. They have a price target $74.00 on the company.

American Public Education (APEI) had its “Outperform” rating reiterated by Zacks Investment Research. They have a price target of $42.00 on the company.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) reiterated its "Neutral" rating on Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (ARE).

Yum! (YUM) (WTS) (ZOLT) (ACO) (ACE) (ADS) Ratings, Price Targets

Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM), Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (WTS), Zoltek Companies, Inc. (ZOLT), AMCOL International Co. (ACO), ACE Ltd (ACE) and Alliance Data Systems Co. (ADS) ratings and price targets.

Sterne Agee initiated coverage on Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (WTS). They placed a “Buy” rating and a price target of $44.00 on the company.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) reiterated its “Hold” rating on Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM). They have a price target of $55.00 on the company.

Needham & Company reiterated its “Hold” rating on Zoltek Companies,
Inc. (ZOLT).

Ticonderoga upgraded ACE Ltd (ACE) from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $85.00 on the company.

Sterne Agee initiated coverage on AMCOL International Co. (ACO). They placed a “Neutral” rating on the company.

Piper Jaffray (NYSE:PJC) raised its price target on Alliance Data Systems Co. (ADS) to $110.00. They have a “Neutral” rating on the company.

Cisco (CSCO) (SRE) (TXRH) (WFR) (YUM) (BGC) EPS Estimates Cut

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ: TXRH), MEMC Electronic Materials Inc (NYSE: WFR), Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM) and General Cable Co. (NYSE: BGC) had their EPS estimates cut by analysts.

Oppenheimer cut its EPS estimates on Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO). They have an “Outperform” rating and a price target of $20.00 on the company.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) slashed its EPS estimates on Sempra Energy (SRE). They have a “Neutral” rating and a price target of $54.00 on the company.

Barclays Capital Texas cut its EPS estimates on Roadhouse (TXRH). They have an “Overweight” rating and a price target of $18.00 on the company.

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) cut its EPS estimates on MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (WFR). They have an “Outperform” rating and a price target of $11.00 on the company.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) cut its EPS estimates on Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM). They have a “Sell” rating and a price target of $49.00 on the company.

Keybanc cut its EPS estimates on General Cable Co. (BGC). They have a “Buy” rating and a price target of $48.00 on the company.

Valeant (VRX) (VTNC) (WDC) (YUM) Price Targets Changed

Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX), Vitran Co., Inc. (NASDAQ: VTNC), Western Digital (NYSE: WDC) and Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM) price targets changed.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX) had its price target raised by RBC Capital from $55.00 to $58.00. They have an “outperform” rating on the company.

Vitran Co., Inc. (NASDAQ: VTNC) had its price target lowered by Morgan Keegan to $15.00.

Western Digital (NYSE: WDC) had its price target raised by Auriga to $52.00.

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM) had its price target raised by analysts at RBC Capital from $59.00 to $65.00. They have an “outperform” rating on the company.

Dividends on (PAAS) (MCD) (MMC) (YUM) (DDR) Declared

Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ:PAAS), McDonald`s Corp. (NYSE:MCD), Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (NYSE:MMC), Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE:YUM) and Developers Diversified Realty Corp. (NYSE:DDR) declare dividends.

The Board of Directors of Pan American Silver Corp. (PAAS) declared a second quarter common stock dividend of $0.025 per share payable 6/15/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 5/31/11.

The Board of Directors of McDonald`s Corp. (MCD) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.61 per share payable 6/15/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/1/11.

The Board of Directors of Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (MMC) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.22 per share payable 8/15/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 7/11/11.

The Board of Directors of Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.25 per share payable 8/5/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 7/15/11.

The Board of Directors of Developers Diversified Realty Corp. (DDR) declared a second quarter common stock dividend of $0.04 per share payable 7/6/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/20/11.

Dividend Yields for (DRI) (CCL) (YUM) (WYN) (SBUX)

Indicated dividend yields for Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies Darden Restaurants Inc (DRI), Carnival Corp (CCL), Yum! Brands Inc (YUM), Wyndham Worldwide Corp (WYN) and Starbucks Corp (SBUX).

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.

Darden Restaurants Inc (DRI) has a dividend yield of 2.73 percent on a declared dividend of $0.32. The payout ratio is 28.8 percent.

Carnival Corp (CCL) has a dividend yield of 2.63 percent on a declared dividend of $0.25. The payout ratio is 129.9 percent.

Yum! Brands Inc (YUM) has a dividend yield of 1.86 percent on a declared dividend of $0.25. The payout ratio is 44.8 percent.

Wyndham Worldwide Corp (WYN) has a dividend yield of 1.73 percent on a declared dividend of $0.15. The payout ratio is 36.0 percent.

Starbucks Corp (SBUX) has a dividend yield of 1.44 percent on a declared dividend of $0.13. The payout ratio is 38.4 percent.

AT&T (T), (YUM) (AYI) (FIBK) Maintain Dividends at Prior Quarterly Levels

Yum (NYSE:YUM), AT&T (NYSE:T), Acuity (NYSE:AYI) and First Interstate Bancsystem (NASDAQ:FIBK) all declared they're maintaining their dividends at their recent quarterly levels.

Yum Brands maintained its quarterly dividend of 25 cents a share. AT&T (T) maintained its quarterly dividend of 43 cents a share. Acuity Brands maintained its quarterly dividend of 13 cents a share, and First Interstate Bancsystem maintained its quarterly dividend of 11.25 cents a share.

Yum! closed Monday at $51.47, dropping $0.37, or 0.71 percent. AT&T closed at $29.36, up $0.51, or 1.77 percent. Acuity closed at $56.11, falling $0.03, or 0.05 percent. First Interstate closed at $13.58, down $0.10, or 0.73 percent.

Yum Brands (NYSE:YUM) Puts A&W, Long John Silver's Up For Sale

Yum Brands (NYSE:YUM) announced today it is putting two of its restaurant chains up for sale - A&W and Long John Silver's. Yum also operates Taco Bell, KFC and and Pizza Hut.

The reason putting the companies for sale are they no longer fit into the long-term plans of the company.

YUM said they're already searching for buyers.

The two franchises aren't a big part of the overall holdings of YUM Brands, as they account for only 1,630 of the over 37,000 restaurants operated by the company.

YUM said they want zero in on expanding operations at their major franchises KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, both in the global markets and domestically.

YUM was trading at $49.03, gaining $1.19, or 2.49 percent, as of 11:28 AM EST.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) Focus on Asia, Africa

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) has targeted Asia and Africa as their growth catalysts, and that includes nations outside of China, including India.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) noted, "Management highlighted the opportunities in Africa and the rest of Asia outside Mainland China, while briefly touching on the significant opportunities in India (1.2B people with 0.2 units per million), which is following a remarkably similar growth path to where the China business was from 1987-1996."

Full year EPS estimates for 2011 were raised from $2.78 to $2.79.

Jefferies maintains a "Buy" rating on Yum! Brands, which closed Thursday at $49.66, down $0.61, or 1.21 percent. They have a price target of $47 on the company, raising it from $45.