Acuity (AYI) (SMSC) (AN) (CCIX) (CCJ) (ATMI) Ratings, Price Targets

Acuity Brands Inc. (NYSE: AYI), Standard Microsystems Co. (NASDAQ: SMSC), Autonation Inc. (NYSE: AN), Coleman Cable, Inc. (NASDAQ: CCIX), Cameco Co. (NYSE: CCJ) and ATMI, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATMI) ratings and price targets.

Acuity Brands Inc. (AYI) had its “buy” rating reiterated by Canaccord Genuity.

Standard Microsystems Co. (SMSC) had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at Canaccord Genuity.

Autonation Inc. (AN) is now covered by Sterne Agee. They have a “neutral” rating on the firm.

Coleman Cable, Inc. (CCIX) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating.

Cameco Co. (CCJ) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating.

ATMI, Inc. (ATMI) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating.

Autonation (AN) (AXL) (TAP) (ATW) (AVEO) (CCI) Ratings, Price Targets

Autonation Inc. (AN), American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AXL), Molson Coors Brewing (NYSE: TAP), Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE: ATW), Aveo Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AVEO) and Crown Castle (NYSE: CCI) ratings and price targets.

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. (AXL) is now covered by Guggenheim. They have a “Neutral” rating on the company.

Molson Coors Brewing (TAP) had its “Neutral” rating reiterated by Zacks Investment Research. They have a price target of $46.00 on the company.

Autonation Inc. (AN) is now covered by Stifel Nicolaus. They have a “Hold” rating on the company.

Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (ATW) had its “Buy” rating reiterated by Canaccord Genuity.

Aveo Pharmaceuticals (AVEO) had its “Buy” rating reiterated by Canaccord Genuity.

Crown Castle (CCI) is now covered by Stifel Nicolaus. They have a “Buy” rating and a price target of $55.00 on the company.

VIVUS (VVUS) (VZ) (WMB) (AFFY) (AMRI) (AN) Ratings Reiterated

VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS), Verizon (NYSE: VZ), Williams (NYSE: WMB), Affymax, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFY), Albany Molecular Research, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRI) and Autonation Inc. (NYSE: AN) had ratings on them reiterated by analysts.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) reiterated its “Underperform” rating on VIVUS, Inc. (VVUS). They have a price target of $3.00 on the company.

Stifel Nicolaus reiterated its “Buy” rating on Verizon (VZ). They have a price target of $45.00 on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reiterated its “Overweight” rating on Williams (WMB). They have a price target of $38.00 on the company.

Robert W. Baird reiterated its “Outperform” rating on Affymax, Inc. (AFFY).

Sterne Agee reiterated its “Buy” rating on Albany Molecular Research, Inc. (AMRI). They have a price target of $7.00 on the company.

Gabelli reiterated its “Hold” rating on Autonation Inc. (AN).

Price Targets on (AKAM) (AMAT) (AN) (AON) (BHI) Updated by Analysts

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM), Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), Autonation Inc. (NYSE: AN), Aon Co. (NYSE: AON) and Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI) get price targets Updated today by analysts.

Collins Stewart cut their price target on Akamai Technologies (AKAM) from $51.00 to $45.00. They have a “hold” rating on the company.

Piper Jaffray (NYSE:PJF) cut their price target on Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) from $22.00 to $18.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) raised their price target on Autonation Inc. (AN) from $29.00 to $33.00. They have a “neutral” rating on the company.

RBC Capital raised their price target on Aon Co. (AON) from $47.00 to $54.00. They have a “sector perform” rating on the company.

Dahlman Rose raised their price target on Baker Hughes (BHI) from $81.00 to $95.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

CH Robinson (CHRW) (WAT) (VSI) (TKR) (AN) Get Ratings Initiations

C.H. Robinson (NASDAQ:CHRW), Waters (NYSE:WAT), Vitamin Shoppe (NYSE:VSI), Timken (NYSE:TKR) and AutoNation (NYSE:AN) had analysts initiate coverage on them.

C.H. Robinson (CHRW) was started off with a "Buy" rating by Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB), which has a price target of $88 on the company.

Waters (WAT) was started off with an "Overweight" rating by Barclays Capital, with a price target of $110.

Vitamin Shoppe (VSI) was initiated with a "Buy" rating by Barclays Capital, with a price target of $44.

Timken (TKR) was initiated at a "Neutral" rating by Longbow, with a price target of $65.

AutoNation (AN) was started off with a "Sell" rating by UBS, which placed a price target of $31 on the firm.

AutoNation (AN) February Sales Jump 29 Percent

AutoNation (NYSE:AN) announced Wednesday sales in February 2011 soared to 17,041, a 29 percent increase over February 2010, exceeding the U.S. average for growth in February, which came in at 27 percent.

A breakdown per division showed sales of domestic vehicles climbed 40 percent to 5,240, imported vehicles were up 35 percent to 9,114, and premium luxury vehicles sold fell 1 percent to 2,687.

Major automakers enjoyed a good February, although American auto manufactures lost ground to their foreign competitors, other than General Motors (NYSE:GM), which led the month with a 49 percent increase in U.S. sales.

The problem for General Motors is it appears the sales boost has come at a huge cost, as they increase incentives during the month while most competitors are cutting back in that regard.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) has publicly stated they would rather lose market share than have to offer incentives to that degree.

AutoNation was trading at $32.66, up $0.16, or 0.49 percent, as of 12:54 PM EST.

Bank of America (BAC) Likes AutoNation (AN), Group 1 Automotive (GPI), Penske Automotive (PAG)

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) said today it likes the auto dealer sector, including companies like AutoNation (NYSE:AN), Group 1 Automotive (NYSE:GPI) and Penske Automotive (NYSE:PAG).

Christopher Dietrich at Dow Jones said: “BAML upped its view on auto-dealer stocks and ups price targets for a raft of stocks including AutoNation, Group 1 Automotive and Penske Automotive. BAML says strengthening balance sheets across the sector mean companies are likely to return value to shareholders with buybacks and higher dividends.

“BAML’s estimate for 15M light vehicle sales in 2011 are above the Street’s consensus, yet BAML asserts dealer stocks can still push higher even in a lighter sales environment on the basis of cost cutting made during the worst of the financial crisis.”

This contrasts with UBS’ recent dealer survey that found dealers fretting about a possible price war this year. UBS estimates 13 million light truck and car sales this year, well below the BAML number. UBS also has a sell rating on AutoNation.




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