Honeywell (HON) (VE) (SBUX) (SONC) (NTAP) (ALB) Downgraded

Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON), Veolia Environnement (NYSE: VE), Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), Sonic Co. (NASDAQ: SONC), NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) and Albemarle Co. (NYSE: ALB) downgraded by analysts.

Honeywell International Inc. (HON) was downgraded by Sanford C. Bernstein from an “Outperform” rating to a “Market Perform” rating.

Veolia Environnement (VE) was downgraded by UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) from a “Buy” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Starbucks (SBUX) was downgraded by Oppenheimer from an “Outperform” rating to a “Perform” rating.

Sonic Co. (SONC) was downgraded by Oppenheimer from an “Outperform” rating to a “Perform” rating.

NetApp Inc. (NTAP) was downgraded by FBN Securities to a “Sector Perform” rating.

Albemarle Co. (ALB) was downgraded by Longbow Research from a “Buy” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Ratings on (SONC) (SUSS) (TWGP) (TWTC) Reiterated

Ratings on Sonic Co. (NASDAQ: SONC), Susser Holdings Co. (NASDAQ: SUSS), Tower Group Inc. (NASDAQ: TWGP) and TW Telecom (NASDAQ: TWTC) reiterated by analysts.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) reiterated an “underperform” rating on Sonic Co. (SONC). They have a price target $9.50 on the company.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) reiterated a “buy” rating on Susser Holdings Co. (SUSS). They have a price target of $18.00 on the company.

Wunderlich placed a price target of $32.00 on Tower Group Inc. (TWGP). They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating on TW Telecom (TWTC). They have a price target of $23.50 on the company.

Price Targets on (NUAN) (ROVI) (SGMS) (SONC) (STEC) Updated

Price targets on shares of Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN), Rovi Corp (NASDAQ: ROVI), Scientific Games Corp (NASDAQ: SGMS), Sonic Co. (NASDAQ: SONC) and STEC Inc (NASDAQ: STEC) were updated by analysts.

Piper Jaffray (NYSE:PJC) raised their price target on Nuance Communications Inc. (NUAN) from $19.00 to $21.00. They have a “neutral” rating on the company.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) raised their price target on Rovi Corp (ROVI) from $61.00 to $63.50. They have a “neutral” rating on the company.

Brean Murray cut their price target on Scientific Games Corp (SGMS) from $14.00 to $13.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Morgan Keegan raised their price target on Sonic Co. (SONC) from $10.50 to $12.00. They have a “market perform” rating on the company.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) cut their price target on STEC Inc (STEC) from $26.00 to $23.00. They have a “neutral” rating on the company.

Price Targets on (NUAN) (ROVI) (SGMS) (SONC) (STEC) Updated

Price targets on shares of Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN), Rovi Corp (NASDAQ: ROVI), Scientific Games Corp (NASDAQ: SGMS), Sonic Co. (NASDAQ: SONC) and STEC Inc (NASDAQ: STEC) were updated by analysts.

Piper Jaffray (NYSE:PJC) raised their price target on Nuance Communications Inc. (NUAN) from $19.00 to $21.00. They have a “neutral” rating on the company.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) raised their price target on Rovi Corp (ROVI) from $61.00 to $63.50. They have a “neutral” rating on the company.

Brean Murray cut their price target on Scientific Games Corp (SGMS) from $14.00 to $13.00. They have a “buy” rating on the company.

Morgan Keegan raised their price target on Sonic Co. (SONC) from $10.50 to $12.00. They have a “market perform” rating on the company.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) cut their price target on STEC Inc (STEC) from $26.00 to $23.00. They have a “neutral” rating on the company.

Sonic's (NASDAQ:SONC) Double-Digit EPS Growth Days Over?

According to Barclays (NYSE:BCS), they see the comp and unit growth model of Sonic (NASDAQ:SONC) structurally challenged, and think it'll be hard to assume double-digit EPS growth going forward.

Barclays says, "1QF11 EPS was in-line with the Street (ex a tax benefit), with comps improving from 4QF10. Such improvement continued through December, though compares eased meaningfully, making direct comparison difficult. F11 guidance is unchanged, though still lacking specific thoughts on comp and EPS growth. Longer-term, we believe Sonic's comp and unit growth model is structurally challenged, with management acknowledging inability to return to historic sales growth (driven by comp & unit) and peak restaurant margins. We remain cautious assuming a sustainable return to double-digit EPS growth.

Barclays maintains an "Equalweight" on Sonic, which closed Wednesday at $11.31, gaining $1.21, or 11.98 percent. Barclays has a price target of $8 on them.

Sonic (NASDAQ:SONC) Still Surrounded by Limited Visibility

Barclays said they see strong pressure on Sonic (NASDAQ:SONC), especially on labor and food, and see margins falling going forward. They do hesitate to draw any conclusion yet until there is more visibility.

Barclays said, "We expect EPS of $0.09, -10% y-y, and $0.01 below the Street. Quarterly guidance was not provided. Comps had improved sequentially since June (down 6.4% in 4QF10) through the first six weeks of 1QF11. Our forecast is for F1Q comps down 4%, similar co-op and franchise. A 1pp change in comp is worth $0.03 to annual EPS. We expect operating expense pressure with continued de-leverage on negative comps (especially in lower sales volume 1HF11), with the greatest pressure on food and labor. We expect restaurant margins down 125bp to 11.8%."

"...While SONC outperformed in anticipation of easing comp and margin compares, we maintain our Equal Weight due to limited visibility."

Barclays maintains an "Equalweight" rating on Sonic, which closed Tuesday at $10.10, gaining $0.02, or 0.20 percent. Barclays has a price target on Sonic of $8.

Sonic (NASDAQ:SONC) EPS, Sales to Miss says Susquehanna

Based on anticipated sales declines and loss in market share, Susquehanna believes Sonic (NASDAQ:SONC) will miss on their EPS in the first quarter of 2011, and a loss of market share.

Susquehanna said, "We anticipate a slight EPS miss in FY1Q11 ($0.09 vs. the consensus of $0.10) when SONC reports on January 4 after the market close, but we note low top-line visibility. Improving economic activity in Texas supports higher SSS on a sequential basis (-2.5% estimated vs. -6.4% in FY4Q10), but we still anticipate sales declines due to market-share losses and value-sensitive consumers. Although we expect SSS to improve sequentially, resulting in 1% SSS in FY11 vs. -7.8% SSS in FY10, we view this improvement as fully priced into the stock."

Susquehanna maintains a "Neutral" on Sonic, which closed level on Friday, at $10.12. Susquehanna has a price target of $9 on them.