Excel (EXM) (GRM) (IVN) (NWBI) SHBI) Get Ratings Downgrades

Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd (NYSE: EXM), Graham Packaging Company Inc (NYSE: GRM), Ivanhoe Mines Ltd (NYSE: IVN), Northwest Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: NWBI) and Shore Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHBI) downgraded by analysts.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) downgraded Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd (EXM) from a “Hold” rating to an “Underperform” rating.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) downgraded Graham Packaging Company Inc (GRM) from a “Buy” rating to a “Neutral” rating. They set a price target of $24.00 on the stock.

BMO Capital Markets downgraded Ivanhoe Mines Ltd (IVN) from an “Outperform” rating to a “Market Perform” rating.

FBR Capital downgraded Northwest Bancshares, Inc. (NWBI) from an “Outperform” rating to a “Market Perform” rating. They placed a price target of $13 on the firm.

Sandler O’Neill downgraded Shore Bancshares, Inc. (SHBI) from a “Buy” rating to a “Hold” rating.

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.

Silgan (SLGN) Acquiring Graham (GRM) in $1.28 Billion Deal

Shares of Silgan Holdings (NASDAQ:SLGN) and Graham Packaging (NYSE:GRM) are soaring today on news Silgan made a cash-and-stock offer for the company of $1.28 billion.

Silgan offered 0.402 shares and $4.75 in cash for each Graham share, valuing the company at $19.56 a share. That's a premium of 17.1 percent to Tuesday's closing price.

After the deal closes, Silgan said it will have about 17,000 employees and 180 manufacturing facilities in 19 countries. Expectations are the combined company will reach $50 million in cost savings by the third year after the sale closes.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.

Graham Packaging was trading at $21.12, gaining $4.41, or 26.39 percent, as of 12:06 PM EDT. Silgan Holdings was trading at $41.64, up $4.81, or 13.06 percent.

Goldman (NYSE:GS) Prefers Ball (NYSE:BLL), Crown (NYSE:CCK) Over Graham (NYSE:GRM)

Goldman (NYSE:GS) recently met with executives from Graham Packaging (NYSE:GRM), and said for a long-term investment, the company looks compelling, although in the packaging sector they prefer Ball (NYSE:BLL) and Crown (NYSE:CCK) on a risk/reward basis.

Goldman reiterated their "Neutral" rating on Graham Packaging, which closed Wednesday at $13.42, up $0.03, or 0.22 percent. Goldman raised their price target on them to $14.

Ball Corporation closed at $69.31, down $0.17, or 0.24 percent. Crown Holdings closed at $33.72, down $0.01, or 0.03 percent.