Textron (TXT) (VOLVY) (MSI) (OC) (INTU) (COL) Upgraded

Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT), Volvo (NASDAQ: VOLVY), Motorola Solutions (NYSE: MSI), Owens Corning (NYSE: OC), Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) and Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL) upgraded by analysts.

Textron Inc. (TXT) was upgraded by Barclays Capital from an “Equal Weight” rating to an “Overweight” rating. They have a price target of $32.00 on the company.

Volvo (VOLVY) was upgraded by Robert W. Baird from a “Neutral” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

Motorola Solutions (MSI) was upgraded by Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $55.00 on the company.

Owens Corning (OC) was upgraded by RBC Capital from an “Outperform” rating to a “Top Pick” rating. They have a price target of $45.00 on the company, up from $42.00.

Intuit Inc. (INTU) was upgraded by UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $57.00 on the company.

Rockwell Collins (COL) was upgraded by RBC Capital from a “Sector Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating. They have a price target of $70.00 on the company.

Dividend Yields for (ROP) (TXT) (DHR) (PCP) (PBI)

Indicated dividend yields for Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies Roper Industries Inc (ROP), Textron Inc (TXT), Danaher Corp (DHR), Precision Castparts Corp (PCP) and Pitney Bowes Inc (PBI).

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.

Roper Industries Inc (ROP) has a dividend yield of 0.51 percent on a declared dividend of $0.11. The payout ratio is 11.8 percent.

Textron Inc (TXT) has a dividend yield of 0.31 percent on a declared dividend of $0.02. The payout ratio is 17.8 percent.

Danaher Corp (DHR) has a dividend yield of 0.14 percent on a declared dividend of $0.02. The payout ratio is 3.2 percent.

Precision Castparts Corp (PCP) has a dividend yield of 0.08 percent on a declared dividend of $0.03. The payout ratio is 1.7 percent.

Pitney Bowes Inc (PBI) has a dividend yield of 6.03 percent on a declared dividend of $0.37. The payout ratio is 85.7 percent.

Can (CAT) (TXT) (UTX) (ETN) (HON) (GE) Meet Expectations?

As evidenced by the recent 6 percent plunge in share price of Alcoa (NYSE:AA), even after beating expectations, U.S. manufacturers such as General Electric Co (NYSE:GE), Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) and Textron Inc (NYSE:TXT), United Technologies Corp (NYSE:UTX), Eaton Corp (NYSE:ETN) and Honeywell International Inc (NYSE:HON) will be under pressure to perform as investors remain jittery about the economy.

Growth has been decent over the last year, but the artificial stimulation coming from quantitative easing is about to end, and questions of whether or not the companies can sustain themselves are already on the periphery of the minds of investors.

There is uncertainty about the sustainability of the so-called recovery around the world, and with so many negative catalysts creating economic pressure, it's no a surety by any means manufacturers will continue to grow at the level they recently have.

Manufacturers will also have to deal with recent success as well, which appears to be slowing in growth, which will weigh on the stocks if there aren't positive catalysts to balance off the negative.

In other words, it's going to be hard to impress shareholders going forward, and that will probably pressure many manufacturer share prices.

Textron (TXT) Removing Finance Unit Notes from NYSE

Textron Inc (NYSE:TXT) said today it plans to withdraw the New York Stock Exchange listing of bonds issued by its finance arm, an action it said came from its decision in 2008 to deeply cute back that division.

The diversified U.S. manufacturer said it would withdraw the NYSE listing of Textron Financial Corp's 5.125 percent notes due August 2014 and that the unit would cease to file its own operational reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company said the finance arm would continue to release its financial statements on its Web site.

The parent company's NYSE listing and SEC reporting will not be affected by this move, Textron said.




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Textron's (NYSE:TXT) Initial 2011 Guidance Probably Conservative Says UBS (NYSE:UBS)

The guidance of Textron (NYSE:TXT) for 2011 could be extremely important, based on the big move in the share price since the middle of November.

UBS said, "TXT shares have been on a run as it comes to price in the potential recovery at Cessna. While we believe 2012-13 earnings potential remains the key to the stock, upcoming 2011 guidance takes on increased importance given the recent share price move. Our slightly above consensus estimate appears doable, although we expect initial guidance to start off conservative given what we think is still a lack of visibility into any sort of business jet recovery.

"We are raising our PT, reflecting a blend of market multiples on our 2012 EPS estimate (was 2011E) and DCF analysis. We believe it is now more appropriate to use a multiple on 2012E given push out in the bizjet recovery."

UBS maintains a "Neutral" rating on Textron (TXT), which closed Monday at $27.14, gaining $0.51, or 1.92 percent. UBS raised their price target on Textron from $22 to $27.