PAREXEL (PRXL) (RFMD) (ECL) (LO) (MO) (EQR) Upgraded

PAREXEL International Co. (NASDAQ: PRXL), RF Micro Device (NASDAQ: RFMD), Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL), Lorillard Inc. (NYSE: LO), Altria Group (NYSE: MO) and Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) upgraded by analysts.

PAREXEL International Co. (PRXL) was upgraded by Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) from an “Underperform” rating to a “Hold” rating. They have a price target of $19.50 on the company.

RF Micro Device (RFMD) was upgraded by Needham & Company from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. The have a price target of $7.00 on the company.

Ecolab Inc. (ECL) was upgraded by Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $55.00 on the company. They cited valuation as the catalyst behind the call.

Lorillard Inc. (LO) was upgraded by Davenport from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $120.00 on the company.

Altria Group (MO) was upgraded by Davenport from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $31.00 on the company.

Equity Residential (EQR) was upgraded by FBR Capital from an “Underperform” rating to a “Market Perform” rating.

Lorillard (LO) (TRLG) (WLL) (EXP) (DQ) (HRC) Upgraded

Lorillard (NYSE: LO), True Religion Apparel, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRLG), Whiting Petroleum Co. (NYSE: WLL), Eagle Materials, Inc. (NYSE: EXP), Daqo New Energy (NYSE: DQ) and Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HRC) upgraded by analysts.

Lorillard Inc. (LO) was upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $122.00 on the company.

True Religion Apparel, Inc. (TRLG) was upgraded by Caris & Company from an “Above Average” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $38.00 on the company, up from $35.00.

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

Eagle Materials, Inc. (EXP) was upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) from an “Underweight” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Daqo New Energy (DQ) was upgraded by Avian to a “Positive” rating.

Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. (HRC) was upgraded by Morgan Keegan from a “Market Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating. They have a price target of $45.00 on the company, down from $48.00.

Motorola Mobility (MMI) (LO) (BEAV) (ROP) (LPS) EPS Estimates Changed

Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI), Lorillard Inc. (NYSE: LO), BE Aerospace (NASDAQ: BEAV), Roper Industries Inc (NYSE: ROP) and Lender Processing Services Incorporated (NYSE: LPS) EPS estimates adjusted by analysts.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) boosted its EPS estimate on BE Aerospace (BEAV). They have a “Buy” rating and a price target of $48.00 on the company.

UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) lowered its EPS estimate on Lorillard Inc. (LO). They have a “Buy” rating and a price target of $124.00 on the company.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) lowered its EPS estimates on Lender Processing Services Incorporated (LPS). They have a “Neutral” rating and a price target of $21.00 on the company.

Barclays Capital cut its EPS estimates on Motorola Mobility (MMI). They have an “Overweight” rating and a price target of $33.00 on the company.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) raised its EPS estimates on Roper Industries Inc (ROP). They have a “Neutral” rating and a price target of $101.00 on the company.

Lorillard (LO) (MHS) (ERTS) (ATVI) (EXPE) (SYMC) Ratings Reiterated

Lorillard Inc. (NYSE: LO), Medco Health Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MHS), Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ: ERTS), Activision Blizzard Inc (NASDAQ: ATVI), Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) and Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) have ratings reiterated by analysts.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) reiterated a "Buy" rating on Medco Health Solutions Inc. (MHS).

BMC Equities reiterated a "Hold" rating Research Electronic Arts Inc (ERTS).

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) reiterated a "Buy" rating on Expedia, Inc. (EXPE).

BMC Equities Research reiterated a "Buy" rating on Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI). They have a price target of $15.00 on the company.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) reiterated a "Buy" rating on Lorillard Inc. (LO). They have a price target of $122.00 on the company.

Oppenheimer reiterated an "Outperform" rating on Symantec (SYMC). They have a price target of $21.00 on the company.

Dividends on (UVV) (TWC) (PAI) (HIG) (LO) Declared

Universal Corp. (NYSE:UVV), Time Warner Cable, Inc. (NYSE:TWC), Western Asset Income Fund (NYSE:PAI), Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE:HIG) and Lorillard, Inc. (NYSE:LO) declare dividends.

The Board of Directors of Universal Corp. (UVV) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.48 per share payable 8/8/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 7/11/11.

The Board of Directors of Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.48 per share payable 6/15/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 5/31/11.

The Board of Directors of Western Asset Income Fund (PAI) declared a June 11 common stock dividend of $0.06 per share payable 6/24/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/17/11.

The Board of Directors of Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (HIG) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.10 per share payable 7/1/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/1/11.

The Board of Directors of Lorillard, Inc. (LO) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $1.30 per share payable 6/10/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 6/1/11.

Coverage on (GOOD) (KO) (LKFN) (LO) (MO) Initiated

Coverage on Gladstone Commercial Corp (NASDAQ: GOOD), The Coca Cola Co (NYSE: KO), Lakeland Financial Co. (NASDAQ: LKFN), Lorillard Inc. (NYSE: LO) and Altria Group (NYSE: MO) was initiated by analysts.

Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Gladstone Commercial Corp (GOOD). They placed a “buy” rating on the company.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) initiated coverage on The Coca Cola Co (KO). They placed an “outperform” rating and a price target of $76.00 on the company.

Sterne Agee initiated coverage on Lakeland Financial Co. (LKFN). They placed a “buy” rating on the company.

Wells Fargo & Co. initiated coverage on Lorillard Inc. (LO). They placed a “market perform” rating and a price target of $108.00 on the company.

Wells Fargo & Co. initiated coverage on Altria Group (MO). They placed a “market perform” rating and a price target of $27.00 on the company.

Biggest Winners (FMC) (LO) (ASH) (HLF) (APA) on May 6

Among the winners on Friday, May 6, as measured by share price increases, were FMC Corp. (FMC), Lorillard Inc (LO), Ashland Inc. (ASH), Herbalife Ltd (HLF) and Apache Corp. (APA).

FMC Corp. (FMC) was up $1.40, to close at $84.71, a gain of 1.68 percent.

Lorillard Inc (LO) jumped $1.38 on the day to close at $108.62, an increase of 1.29 percent.

Ashland Inc. (ASH) rose $1.38 to close at $62.13, a boost of 2.27 percent.

Herbalife Ltd (HLF) soared $1.37 to close the session at $104.84, a gain of 1.32 percent.

Apache Corp. (APA) surged $1.37 to end the day at $124.21, climbing 1.12 percent.

All-Time Highs for (LNT) (LO) (LXU) (MAA) (MCHP) Reached May 6

Alliant Energy Corp. (NYSE:LNT), Lorillard Inc. (NYSE:LO), LSB Industries Inc. (NYSE:LXU), Mid-America Apartment (NYSE:MMA) and Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) all breached all-time highs on Friday, May 6.

Idacorp (IDA) closed at $39.20, gaining $0.29, or 0.75 percent. They traded as high as $39.68 on the day.

Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) closed Friday at $34.08, rising $0.69, or 2.07 percent. They traded as high as $34.49 on the day.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB) closed Friday at $66.88, climbing $0.05, or 0.07 percent. They traded as high as $67.37 on the day.

Liberty Global (LBTYA) closed at $45.90, up $0.20, or 0.44 percent. They traded as high as $51.93 on the day.

Liberty Media Corp. (LCAPA) closed at $86.96, gaining $2.35, or 2.78 percent. They traded as high as $87.76 on the day.

Price Targets on (MA) (DOX) (HLS) (LEA) (LO) Raised by Analysts

Amdocs Limited (NYSE: DOX), HealthSouth (NYSE: HLS), Lear Co. (NYSE: LEA), Lorillard Inc. (NYSE: LO) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA) get price targets raised today by analysts.

ThinkEquity raised their price target on Amdocs Limited (DOX) to $32.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) raised their price target on HealthSouth (HLS) to $30.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) raised their price target on Lear Co. (LEA) to $65.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Goldman Sachs raised their price target on Lorillard Inc. (LO) to $118.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the company.

Goldman Sachs raised their price target on MasterCard (MA) to $310.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Dividend Winners (MJN) (MCO) (APA) (ITW) (LO) Last Week

Mead Johnson Nutrition (NYSE:MJN), Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO), Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA), Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) and Lorillard Inc. (NYSE:LO) were among the biggest dividend winners last week.

Mead Johnson Nutrition (MJN) closed at $66.88, bringing the dividend to +9.96 percent on the week and the yield to 1.56.

Moody’s Corporation (MCO) closed at $39.14, bringing the dividend to +9.24 percent on the week and the yield to 1.43 percent.

Apache Corporation (APA) closed at $133.37, bringing the dividend to +8.15 percent on the week and the yield to 0.45 percent.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW) closed at $58.41, bringing the dividend to +8.03 percent on the week and and the yield to 2.33 percent.

Lorillard Inc. (LO) closed at $106.50, bringing the dividend to +7.35 percent on the week and the yield to 4.88 percent.

Dividend Yields for (WFMI) (RAI) (MO) (LO) (CAG)

Indicated dividend yields for Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies Whole Foods Market Inc (WFMI), Reynolds American Inc (RAI), Altria Group Inc (MO), Lorillard Inc (LO) and ConAgra Foods Inc (CAG) .

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.

Whole Foods Market Inc (WFMI) has a dividend yield of 0.64 percent on a declared dividend of $0.10. The payout ratio is 19.5 percent.

Reynolds American Inc (RAI) has a dividend yield of 5.71 percent on a declared dividend of $0.53. The payout ratio is 87.5 percent.

Altria Group Inc (MO) has a dividend yield of 5.67 percent on a declared dividend of $0.38. The payout ratio is 84.8 percent.

Lorillard Inc (LO) has a dividend yield of 4.88 percent on a declared dividend of $1.30. The payout ratio is 75.9 percent.

ConAgra Foods Inc (CAG) has a dividend yield of 3.76 percent on a declared dividend of $0.23. The payout ratio is 45.9 percent.

Emerson (EMR) (LO) (FSS) (GPK) Get Ratings Updates

Shares of Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR), Lorillard (NYSE:LO), Federal Signal (NYSE:FSS) and Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) all received ratings updates from various brokerages.

Emerson Electric (EMR) was upgraded by Oppenheimer from "Perform" to "Outperform." Oppenheimer has a price target of $74 Emerson. Growth in emerging markets is the major catalyst for the upgrade.

Lorillard (LO) was upgraded by Citigroup (NYSE:C) from "Hold" to "Buy" on strong results in the first quarter of 2011, along with improving fundamentals, according to Citigroup. Citig increased its price target on Lorillard from $90 to $122.

Federal Signal (FSS) was downgraded by BMO Capital from "Outperform" to "Market Perform," BMO Capital cited valuation based on a $7 price target as the catalyst.

Graphic Packaging (GPK) was rated a new "Buy" by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS). Goldman has a price target of $6.25 on Graphic. A favorable price environment is helping drive the company, which is also managing costs well.

Lorillard (NYSE:LO) Put Option for April Contract

A three-legged spread involving April contract put options on Lorillard (NYSE:LO) seems to be the play of trader positioning for the price of the underlying stock to drop ahead of expiration.

The stock rallied as much as 5.7% one week ago to trade as high as $81.18 after the FDA said the risk of lung cancer for smokers of menthol cigarettes does not differ significantly from that of non-menthol cigarettes. But, last week’s sharp run up in LO’s shares was fairly short-lived given other portions of the FDA report that were not quite as positive for big tobacco.

One trader expecting Lorillard’s shares to fall in the near-term seems to have established a bearish butterfly spread. The investor picked up 5,000 puts at the April $75 strike for a premium of $4.40 each, sold 10,000 puts at the April $65 strike for a premium of $1.50 apiece, and purchased 5,000 puts at the April $55 strike for a premium of $0.35 a-pop.

Net premium paid to initiate the put ‘fly amounts to $1.75 per contract. The trader profits if LO’s shares decline 6.1% from the current price of $78.00 to breach the effective breakeven point at $73.25 by April expiration. Maximum potential profits of $8.25 per contract pad the investor’s wallet in the event that shares plummet 16.7% to settle at $65.00 at expiration. Options implied volatility on the cigarette-stock is up 3.4% at 54.92% just after 1:00pm in New York.

Lorillard was trading at $77.73, down $0.01, or 0.01 percent, as of 2:29 PM EST.




Source

Altria Group (NYSE:MO), Lorillard (NYSE:LO), Reynolds American (NYSE:RAI) Battle Back Against Justice Department

Cigarette manufacturers Altria Group (NYSE:MO), Lorillard (NYSE:LO) and Reynolds American (NYSE:RAI) are fighting back against proposed requirements of the Justice Department in a lawsuit that has been going on for 12 years.

The nation's largest cigarette manufacturers on Thursday said the Justice Department's proposed corrective statements about smoking's dangers are inflammatory and inaccurate and violate guidelines set by the court overseeing the lawsuit.

The tobacco companies, including Philip Morris USA, maker of top-selling Marlboro cigarettes, also asked a U.S. district judge to toss out the 12-year-old lawsuit, saying the Food and Drug Administration's authority over the industry makes the court's involvement unnecessary.

Last week, the Justice Department released 14 "corrective statements" that it says the companies should be required to make as part of the lawsuit. It wants the companies to admit that they lied to the public and would force the industry to pay for an advertising campaign of self-criticism.

But the companies said the proposed statements don't meet the court's requirements that the statements be "purely factual and uncontroversial." They also said the proposed statements are "plainly designed soley to shame and humiliate" the companies.




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P&G (NSYE:PG), PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP) Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Philip Morris (NYSE:PM) Top Consumer Staples Picks of Goldman (NYSE:GS)

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) is starting to like the consumer staples sector better, and their top picks include P&G (NSYE:PG), PepsiCo (NYSE:PEP), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) and Philip Morris (NYSE:PM).

Of all of this is predicated on the assumption there will be a global and U.S. recovery, none of which are certain by any means.

It also appears brands are pulling back on their battle, which could boost margins and earnings for the companies.

All Goldman could say about the condition of the U.S. economy was that it's "less bad" than it has been; not a great generator of confidence.

The top picks of Goldman based on the assumption the U.S. economy will recover, are Church & Dwight (NYSE:CHD), P&G (PG) and PepsiCo (PEP).

If things go well economically across the globe, Goldman likes Coca-Cola Company (KO) and Philip Morris International (PM).

Believing 2011 will be a strong year for acquisitions, Goldman sees Hansen (Nasdaq:HNSN), Lorillard (NYSE:LO) and Mead Johnson (NYSE:MJN) as "Buys."

Finally, assuming inflationary conditions, their favorite in the sector is General Mills (NYSE:GIS).

Proctor & Gamble were trading at $64.89, up $0.85, or 1.34 percent, as of 1:03 PM Est. Pepsico was trading at $66.66, up $0.33, or 0.50 percent. Coca-Cola was at $63.00, up $0.31, or 0.49 percent. Philip Morris was trading at $56.48, up $0.46, or 0.82 percent.

Goldman (NYSE:GS) Continues to Like Lorillard (NYSE:LO)

Lorillard, Inc. (NYSE:LO) has given Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) continuing reason to be bullish on them, as they announced they're raising their list price on Newport (menthol only), Kent, and True by about 1.5% or $3.00 per thousand, according to Goldman.

The Newport brand continues to hold inherent pricing power, generating much of the bullishness on the stock, which has raised prices on it for the third time in 2010.

Goldman keeps a "Conviction Buy List" rating on Lorillard, which closed Tuesday at $79.58, falling by $2.05, or 2.51 percent. Goldman has a price target of $100 on them.

Volume was just under twice the 3-month average yesterday.