PacWest (PACW) (GWW) (HGG) (HON) (OSBC) (MKL) Ratings, Price Targets

PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ: PACW), W.W. Grainger (NYSE: GWW), HHGregg (NYSE: HGG), Honeywell International (NYSE: HON), Old Second Bancorp (NASDAQ: OSBC) and Markel (NYSE: MKL) ratings and price targets.
W.W. Grainger (GWW) had its “Neutral” rating reiterated by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS).

HHGregg (HGG) had its “Hold” rating reiterated by Jefferies Group (NYSE:JEF).

Honeywell International (HON) had its “Neutral” rating reiterated by Goldman Sachs.

Old Second Bancorp (OSBC) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “Neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating.

PacWest Bancorp (PACW) was downgraded by B. Riley from a “Buy” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Markel (MKL) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “Neutral” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

TECO (TE) (RBCN) (AVB) (CLP) (HGG) (KFT) Price Targets Changed

TECO Energy, Inc. (NYSE: TE), Rubicon Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RBCN), AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE: AVB), Colonial Properties (NYSE: CLP), HHGregg (NYSE: HGG) and Kraft Foods (NASDAQ: KFT) price targets adjusted by analysts.

TECO Energy, Inc. (TE) had its price target lowered by UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) to $19.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the company. They cited valuation as the catalyst behind the call.

Rubicon Technology, Inc. (RBCN) had its price target lowered by UBS AG from $28.00 to $15.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE: AVB) had its price target raised by analysts at FBR Capital from $142.00 to $146.50. The analysts now have an “outperform” rating on the company.

Colonial Properties (NYSE: CLP) had its price target raised by analysts at FBR Capital from $23.00 to $24.50. The analysts now have an “outperform” rating on the company.

HHGregg (NYSE: HGG) had its price target lowered by analysts at UBS AG from $15.00 to $12.00. The analysts now have a “neutral” rating on the company.

Kraft Foods (NASDAQ: KFT) had its price target raised by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $37.00 to $39.00. The analysts now have a “buy” rating on the company.

Cisco (CSCO), Best Buy (BBY), Barnes & Noble (BKS), China Agritech (CAGC), HHGregg (HGG) Hit 52-Week Lows

Shares of Cisco Systems (Nasdaq:CSCO), Best Buy Co.(NYSE:BBY), Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS), China Agritech (Nasdaq:CAGC) and HHGregg Inc. (NYSE:HGG) all hit 52-week lows on Friday, suggesting it may be time to take a more in-depth look at the stocks to see if they're ready for a rebound.

Most of the reasons for the share price of these stocks falling are obvious, for example, whether or not the strategy of Best Buy will be enough to overcome the growing migration of consumers to buy via competitors on the Internet.

But that's not to say some of these may be oversold and are undervalued at this time. Lows could reflect the actual value of the company, or could be an over-response to temporary catalysts.

Best Buy closed Friday at $31.52, up $0.61, or 1.97 percent. Cisco closed at $17.95, up $0.03, or 0.17 percent. HHGregg closed at $13.78, down $0.16, or 1.15 percent. Barnes & Noble ended the session at $11.74, down $0.30, or 2.49 percent. China Agritech closed the trading day at $6.88, down $0.47, or 6.39 percent.

United Stationers (Nasdaq:USTR), Office Depot (NYSE:ODP), Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Top Retail Picks of FBR

FBR liked what they saw in general for hardline retailers in December, and released a report on a number of companies, of which their favorites are United Stationers (Nasdaq:USTR), Office Depot (NYSE:ODP) and Home Depot (NYSE:HD), all which they have an "Outperform" on.

FBR says, "Retail sales as reported by the census for hardlines (these companies do not report monthly comp store sales), were generally good for the categories we track in December, with all categories but one showing a sequential improvement in YOY trends. Most notable was Home Improvement (building materials, garden equipment and supplies dealers, NAICS 444) which was up +13.1% YOY. This was an acceleration from the +11.2% reported in October, and an improvement on a 3-year stacked basis. Consumer Electronics Sales (NAICS 443) improved to +1.8% YOY for the month of December, up from -0.4% in November. Based on the recent results and comments out of BBY & HGG (both included the month of December), as well as HD, the strength within this category was likely driven by appliances. Aftermarket Auto Parts were up +9.6% YOY, and this was up from +9.3% in November. So, the strength in after-market auto parts continues its pace. Home Furnishings were flat sequentially, at +1.4% YOY for the month of December. Strength in this category continues to be on the furniture side. Office Supplies (NAICS 4532) sales are reported on a one month lag, and these were up +7.7% in the month of November, up from -1.7% in October. While this category showed notable strength, it contradicts our channel checks, which have shown a slight deceleration in the month of November.

Those getting a "Market Perform" from FBR included Lowe's (NYSE:LOW), RadioShack (NYSE:RSH), Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), hhgregg (NYSE:HGG), OfficeMax (NYSE:OMX), AutoZone (NYSE:AZO), Advanced Auto (NYSE:AAP), and O'reilly (Nasdaq:ORLY).

Companies with an "Underperform" rating were Staples (Nasdaq:SPLS), Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC), Tractor Supply (Nasdaq:TSCO), and Bed Bath & Beyond (Nasdaq:BBBY).

HHgregg (NYSE:HGG) EPS Estimates Slashed by Barclays on Lowered Guidance

HHgregg's (NYSE:HGG) poor performance in the latest quarter, unsurprisingly, resulted in lowered EPS guidance, and also unsurprisingly, generated lowered EPS estimates from analysts, including Barclays (NYSE:BCS)

Barclays noted, "We are lowering our FY '11EPS to $1.17 (from $1.37) and we are lowering our FY'12 EPS estimate to $1.50 (from $1.73). We are lowering our price target to $27, which equates to 19x our new CY'11 EPS estimate of $1.40 (vs. our prior $29 target, which equated to 18x our prior CY'11 EPS estimate of $1.62)."

Barclays did maintain an "Overweight" rating on hhgregg, which closed Friday at $20.26, gaining $0.30, or 1.50 percent. Barclays lowered their price target to $27 on them.