Carnival (CCL) (MOV) (PNNT) (RRC) (VGR) (VZ) Declare Dividends

Dividends declared by Carnival Corp. (NYSE:CCL), Movado Group (NYSE:MOV), PennantPark Intv Corp. (NASDAQ:PNNT), Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC), Vector Group LTD (NYSE:VGR) and Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ).

The Board of Directors of Carnival Corp. (CCL) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.25 per share payable 9/16/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 8/26/11.

The Board of Directors of Movado Group (MOV) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.03 per share payable 9/26/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 9/12/11.

The Board of Directors of PennantPark Intv Corp. (PNNT) declared a fourth quarter common stock dividend of $0.27 per share payable 10/3/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 9/23/11.

The Board of Directors of Range Resources Corp. (RRC) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.04 per share payable 9/30/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 9/15/11.

The Board of Directors of Vector Group LTD (VGR) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.40 per share payable 9/29/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 9/20/11.

The Board of Directors of Verizon Communications (VZ) declared a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.50 per share payable 11/1/11 to shareholders of record at the close of business on 10/7/11.

Apollo (AINV) (CREE) (FSC) (MCGC) (PNNT) Price Targets Changed

Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: AINV), Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE), Fifth Street Finance (NYSE: FSC), MCG Capital Co. (NASDAQ: MCGC) and PennantPark Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: PNNT) had their price targets changed by analysts.

Apollo Investment Corp. (AINV) had its price target raised by FBR Capital from $8.50 to $12.00. They have a “Market Perform” rating on the company.

Cree, Inc. (CREE) had its price target lowered by Kaufman Brothers from $29.00 to $24.00. They have a “Sell” rating on the company.

Fifth Street Finance (FSC) had its price target raised by FBR Capital from $10.50 to $14.50. They have an “Outperform” rating on the company.

MCG Capital Co. (MCGC) had its price target raised by FBR Capital from $5.00 to $7.00. They have an “Outperform” rating on the company.

PennantPark Investment Corp. (NNT) had its price target raised by FBR Capital from $11.50 to $14.00. They have an “Outperform” rating on the company.

Plains (PXP) (CTL) (PNNT) (CVH) (PETD) (DF) Upgraded

Plains Exploration & Production Company (NYSE: PXP), CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL), PennantPark Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: PNNT), Coventry Health Care, Inc. (NYSE: CVH), Petroleum Development Co. (NASDAQ: PETD) and Dean Foods Co (NYSE: DF) upgraded by analysts.

Plains Exploration & Production Company (PXP) was upgraded by Global Hunter Securities from an “Accumulate” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $54.00 on the company, up from $40.00.

CenturyLink, Inc. (CTL) was upgraded by DA Davidson from an “Underperform” rating to a “Neutral” rating. They have a price target of $36.00 on the company.

PennantPark Investment Corp. (PNNT) was upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $12.00 on the company.

Coventry Health Care, Inc. (CVH) was upgraded by Standpoint Research from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $35.00 on the company.

Petroleum Development Co. (PETD) was upgraded by Hilliard Lyons from a “Neutral” rating to a “Long” rating. They have a price target of $40.00 on the company.

Dean Foods Co. (DF) was upgraded by Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) from an “Underperform” rating to a “Neutral” rating. They have a price target of $10.00 on the company.

Coverage on (PFLT) (SDT) (SXCI) (TSLA) (WNS) Initiated By Analysts

Coverage on shares of PennantPark Floating Rate Capital (NASDAQ: PFLT), SandRidge Mississippian Trust I (NYSE: SDT), SXC Health Solutions (NASDAQ: SXCI), Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) and WNS Holdings Ltd (NYSE: WNS) was initiated by analysts.

Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on PennantPark Floating Rate Capital (PFLT). They placed a “buy” rating and a price target of $14.25 on the company.

Oppenheimer initiated coverage on SandRidge Mississippian Trust I (SDT). They placed a “perform” rating on the company.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) initiated coverage on SXC Health Solutions (SXCI). They placed a “buy” rating and a price target of $71.00 on the company.

Pacific Crest initiated coverage on Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA). They placed an “outperform” rating on the company.

Oppenheimer initiated coverage on WNS Holdings Ltd (WNS). They placed a “perform” rating on the company.

Coverage on (PNNT) (ZUMZ) (ESL) (TRW) (AGU) Initiated by Analysts

PennantPark Investment (NASDAQ:PNNT), Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ:ZUMZ), Esterline Technologies (NYSE:ESL), TRW Automotive (NYSE:TRW) and Agrium Inc. (NYSE:AGU) had coverage initiated on them by analysts.

FBR Capital Markets initiated coverage on PennantPark Investment (PNNT), starting them off with an "Outperform" rating. They placed a price target of $14 on the company.

Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Zumiez Inc. (ZUMZ), starting them off with a "Buy" rating. They placed a price target on the company of $33.

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) initiated coverage on Esterline Technologies (ESL), starting them off with an "Outperform" rating. They placed a price target of $81 on the company.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) initiated coverage on TRW Automotive (TRW), starting them off with a "Buy" rating. They placed a price target of $72 on the company.

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) initiated coverage on Agrium Inc. (AGU), starting them off with a "Neutral" rating. They lowered their price target from $111 to $108 on the company.

PennantPark Investment (Nasdaq:PNNT), MCG Capital (Nasdaq:MCGC)

FBR Capital considers PennantPark Investment (Nasdaq:PNNT) and MCG Capital (Nasdaq:MCGC) as the top BDC picks for 2011, with PennantPark their top pick and MCG picked on valuation.

FBR said, "We expect that the positive momentum we witnessed in 2010 in the business development company (BDC) space will continue into 2011 against a backdrop of improving credit quality and business fundamentals and a strong pipeline of originations. Relative to historical levels, BDCs as a group are under-levered at 0.53x debt to equity, versus 0.7x historically, which allows them to take advantage of the market opportunity ahead of them. Investment spreads remain attractive relative to pre-crisis levels, which, coupled with portfolio churn into interest-earning investments (from non-earning equity investments), will drive NOI and dividend visibility.

"Given the low interest rate environment, we also expect that investors will gravitate toward these attractive yields that average 9% today. We believe that these dividend streams are generally sustainable with the potential for growth as our thesis plays out. The funding environment looks favorable, as many BDCs have access to equity and debt capital markets, bank lines, and inexpensive long-term funding from the Small Business Administration (SBA).

"Overall, we expect that these positive attributes will result in multiple expansion for the group. Specific to our coverage, we prefer companies that are best positioned to exploit the market opportunity ahead. PennantPark Investment Corporation (Outperform) is our top idea headed into 2011 within our coverage universe. On valuation, we like MCG Capital Corporation (Outperform)."

PennantPark Investment closed Friday at $12.70, up $0.26, or 2.09 percent. MCG Capital closed Friday at $7.23, up $0.09, or 1.26 percent.

FBR Capital Maintains "Outperform" Rating on PennantPark Investment (NASDAQ:PNNT)

Seeing nothing that will change the relatively level performance expectations concerning PennantPark Investment (NASDAQ:PNNT), FBR Capital say they're reiterating their "Outperform" rating on the company.

FBR analyst said, "Overall, PennantPark reported a largely in-line quarter. As expected, PennantPark's SBIC subsidiary completed its SBA audit and now has a $100 million commitment from the SBA. Management continues to see a strong pipeline for new deal activity likely ahead of uncertainty about tax law changes. For that reason, we would not be surprised to see deal volumes taper off in C1Q11. PennantPark, in our view, has the liquidity to opportunistically cash in on deal flow, which coupled with its portfolio recycling should benefit NOI and dividend outlook. We are tweaking our FY11 NOI estimate to $1.18 (from $1.17) and introducing our FY12 NOI estimate at $1.20."

PennantPark closed Friday at $11.18, falling $0.26, or 2.27 percent. FBR has a price target of $12 on them.