Pandora (P) (ENDP) (HERO) (MAIL) (NVLS) (PANL) (PBI) (SIG) Ratings Reiterated

Pandora Media (NYSE: P), Endo Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ENDP), Hercules Offshore, Inc. (NASDAQ: HERO), Incredimail Ltd. (NASDAQ: MAIL), Novellus Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS), Universal Display Co. (NASDAQ: PANL), Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI) and Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE: SIG) had their ratings reiterated by analysts.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reiterated an "Equal Weight" rating on Pandora Media (P).

Piper Jaffray (NYSE:PJC) reiterated an “Overweight” rating on Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP).

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) reiterated a "Buy" rating on Hercules Offshore, Inc. (HERO).

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) reiterated a "Buy" rating on Incredimail Ltd. (MAIL).

Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "Hold" rating on Novellus Systems, Inc. (NVLS).

Gabelli reiterated a "Buy" rating on Universal Display Co. (PANL).

BMC Equities Research reiterated a "Buy" rating on Pitney Bowes Inc. (PBI).

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) reiterated an “Overweight” rating on Signet Jewelers Ltd. (SIG).

Cameron (CAM) (CMS) (DAL) (EMC) (EXC) (HERO) Upgraded

Cameron (NYSE: CAM), CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL), EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC), Exelon Co. (NYSE: EXC) and Hercules Offshore, Inc. (NASDAQ: HERO) upgraded by analysts.

Cameron (CAM) was upgraded by Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) from a “Neutral” rating to an “Outperform” rating. They have a price target of $73.00 on the company.

CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS) was upgraded by SunTrust (NYSE:STI) from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Delta Air Lines (DAL) was upgraded by Dahlman Rose from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $10.00 on the company.

EMC Corp. (EMC) was upgraded by Oppenheimer from a “Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating. They have a price target of $32.00 on the company.

Exelon Co. (EXC) was upgraded by UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $50.00 on the company.

Hercules Offshore, Inc. (HERO) was upgraded by Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) from an “Underperform” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

Hercules (HERO) (PVR) (EVEP) (WLL) (SWX) (APU) Upgraded

Hercules Offshore, Inc. (NASDAQ: HERO), Penn Virginia (NYSE: PVR), EV Energy (NASDAQ: EVEP), Whiting Petroleum Co. (NYSE: WLL), Southwest Gas (NYSE: SWX) and Amerigas Partners Lp (NYSE: APU) upgraded by analysts.

EV Energy (EVEP) was upgraded by Oppenheimer from a “Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating. They have a price target of $85.00 on the company.

Hercules Offshore, Inc. (HERO) was upgraded by Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) from an “Underperform” rating to a “Market Perform” rating.

Penn Virginia (PVR) was upgraded by BB&T (NYSE:BBT) from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Southwest Gas (SWX) was upgraded by Citigroup (NYSE:C) from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Whiting Petroleum Co. (WLL) was upgraded by Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) from a “Market Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating. They have a price target of $73.00 on the company.

Amerigas Partners Lp (APU) was upgraded by Wells Fargo & Co. from an “Underperform” rating to a “Market Perform” rating.

Ratings on (ESV) (CTRP) (GME) (HD) (HERO) Reiterated

Ratings on ENSCO PLC (NYSE: ESV), Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (NASDAQ: CTRP), GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME), Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Hercules Offshore, Inc. (NASDAQ: HERO) were reiterated by analysts.

Duncan Williams reiterated a “strong buy” rating on ENSCO PLC (ESV). They have a price target of $68.00 on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reiterated an “overweight” rating on Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (CTRP).

Sterne Agee reiterated a “buy” rating on GameStop Corp (GME).

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) reiterated a “buy” rating on Home Depot (HD).

Duncan Williams reiterated a “strong buy” rating on Hercules Offshore, Inc. (HERO). They have a price target of $10.50 on the company.

Ratings on (FE) (GM) (HERO) (ONB) Upgraded by Analysts

Ratings on FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), General Motors (NYSE: GM), Hercules Offshore, Inc. (NASDAQ: HERO) and Old National Bancorp (NYSE: ONB) were upgraded today by analysts.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) upgraded FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) to a “neutral” rating. They have a price target of $42.00 on the company.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) upgraded General Motors (GM) from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating. They have a price target of $42.00 on the company.

FBR Capital upgraded Hercules Offshore, Inc. (HERO) from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating. They have a price target of $8.50 on the company.

SunTrust (NYSE:STI) upgraded Old National Bancorp (ONB) from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating.

Price Targets on (GPRO) (GWR) (HERO) (HHS) (HLS) Updated

Price targets on Gen-Probe Incorporated (NASDAQ: GPRO), Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (NYSE: GWR), Hercules Offshore, Inc. (NASDAQ: HERO), Harte-Hanks, Inc. (NYSE: HHS) and HealthSouth (NYSE: HLS) were updated today.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) raised their price target on Gen-Probe Incorporated (GPRO) from $75.00 to $92.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Jefferies raised their price target on Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWR) from $54.00 to $64.00. They have a “neutral” rating on the company.

Global Hunter Securities raised their price target on Hercules Offshore, Inc. (HERO) from $7.00 to $7.50.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) cut their price target on Harte-Hanks, Inc. (HHS) from $15.00 to $11.00. They have a “neutral” rating on the company.

Jefferies raised their price target on HealthSouth (HLS) to $30.00.

Hercules Offshore Soars in Wild Oil Market

West Texas crude, the U.S. benchmark for oil, was up 1% at $98 per barrel at the close of the week as futures contracts crept back up toward the $100 mark after a volatile run prompted by democratic unrest in the oil-bearing regions of North Africa and the Middle East. The ways to play oil’s future trading price in the market are as frenetic as the commodity’s activity, and many suggest caution in speculating now.

Nestled in the world of small-cap and distressed companies, there are a few other ways to play oil. Shares in Houston-based Hercules Offshore (NASDAQ:HERO) shot up more than 20% Friday and were trading at $5.20 briefly before pulling back slightly to close at $4.93. The stock took off as trading volume quadrupled to 13.5 million shares, compared with an average 3-month volume of 3.1 million shares.

The buying and selling surge came from an upgrade in a note that Credit Suisse released Friday in which analysts raised the price target for HERO by a dollar, to $5.50, and reiterated the stock’s Outperform rating.

After going public in 2005, the company today contracts offshore rigs and inland barges for oil and natural gas exploration focused in the Gulf of Mexico.





Full Story

SeaHawk Drilling (NASDAQ:HAWK) Plunges on Bankruptcy Filing

SeaHawk Drilling's (NASDAQ:HAWK) pain is Hercules Offshore Inc.'s ((NASDAQ:HERO) gain, as SeaHawk has filed for bankruptcy protection while Hercules will acquire Seahawk's fleet of offhore drilling rigs for $105 million.

SeaHawk is a victim of the Obama administration's over-response to the BP (NYSE:BP) oil spill, being devastated by the loss of business from the moratorium and eventual refusal to grant permits in the region for deepwater drilling.

Hercules Offshore said they're going to acquire the assets with 22.3 million shares of its stock, $25 million in cash to retire Seahawk debt and additional cash for working capital. The February 10 closing price of $3.62 a share for Hercules' stock brings the value of the deal to $105 million.

The deal will be part of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy SeaHawk filed for on Friday.

The bankruptcy court has been asked to expedite the deal, which should close sometime in the second quarter.

Seahawk was trading at $4.67, down $3.23, or 40.89 percent, as of 1:01 PM EST. Hero was trading at $4.30, up $0.68, or 18.78 percent.

Hercules (Nasdaq:HERO), Seahawk (Nasdaq:HAWK), ENSCO (NYSE:ESV), Rowan (NYSE:RDC), Noble (NYSE:NE) EPS All Lowered

Hercules (Nasdaq:HERO), Seahawk (Nasdaq:HAWK), ENSCO (NYSE:ESV), Rowan (NYSE:RDC) and Noble (NYSE:NE) all have a "Neutral" rating on them from, Global Hunter Securities, which also lowered the EPS estimates on all five of the companies.

Global says, "The supply/demand balance in the US Gulf jackup market may have come into question last week with the influx of five Noble Corp (NE) jackups for temporary stacking for cost savings purposes. We understand these rigs to be awaiting opportunity back in Mexico and are not immediately part of the marketed supply. However, we are reluctant to accept that all five rigs will return to Mexico under contract with PEMEX near-term, particularly given the NOC's desire to high-grade its rig fleet (despite the slowness of that process). While the potential to add rigs to the US market had existed with the notion of PEMEX upgrading its jackup fleet, we assumed PEMEX's tardiness to act suggests the US Gulf permitting process could be closer to normalization and rig demand potentially improving, similar to pre-Macondo levels..."

For Hercules Offshore (HERO) FY12 EPS lowered from -$0.34 to -$0.42 and PT cut from $3.40 to $3.10.

For Seahawk Drilling (HAWK) FY11 EPS lowered from -$3.81 to -$3.90 and FY12 from -$3.31 to -$4.25. PT lowered from $10 to $8.50.

For ENSCO International (ESV) FY11 EPS lowered from $4.39 to $3.97 and FY12 from $5.49 to $5.43. PT increased from $47 to $55.

For Rowan (RDC) FY11 EPS lowered from $2.30 to $2.20 and FY12 from $3.69 to $3.62. PT increased from $32 to $36.

For Noble (NE) FY11 EPS lowered from $3.25 to $2.07 and FY12 from $4.95 to $4.33. PT increased from $37 to $40.

"Our price targets fluctuate as a result of our estimate changes, but are higher for ESV, RDC and NE as we roll into 2012 estimates for our valuation (more detail in company-specific section below). We have a Neutral outlook for the group, and we are maintaining our Neutral ratings on each of the five stocks mentioned in this report."

FBR on Hercules Offshore (NASDAQ:HERO), ENSCO (NYSE:ESV)

FBR adjusted their estimates for Hercules Offshore (NASDAQ:HERO) and ENSCO International Plc (NYSE:ESV) based on new contracts and/or changing fleet status.

On Hercules they said, "We are adjusting our estimates to account for recent announcements in Hercules Offshore's December fleet status report and revising our price target downward to $3.00 from $3.50...Q4 EPS estimate cut from $0.13 to $0.12, FY10 from $0.64 to $0.63, FY11 from $0.63 to $0.65 and FY12 from $0.75 to $0.80."

For Ensco, "Following ENSCO’s recent fleet status report filed for December 2010, we are adjusting our estimates to account for new contracts...The fleet status reports caused modest adjustments to EPS forecasts, bringing expected 2010 EPS to $3.55 from $3.57, 2011 EPS to $4.37 from $4.30, and 2012 EPS to $5.35 from $5.30."

FBR Capital maintains a "Market Perform" on Hercules Offshore, which closed Thursday at $3.09, up $0.23, or 8.04 percent. They lowered their price target on them to $3.

FBR Capital maintains an "Outperform" on ENSCO International Plc, which closed Thursday at $52.25, up $1.05, or 2.05 percent. They have a price target on them of $59.