Vantage (VTG) (CF) (MCD) (SM) (AFAM) (ELON) Upgraded

Vantage Drilling Company (NYSE: VTG), CF Industries Holdings Inc (NYSE: CF), McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), SM Energy (NYSE: SM), Almost Family, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFAM) and Echelon Co. (NASDAQ: ELON) upgraded by analysts.

CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) was upgraded by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) from a “Sell” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Echelon Co. (ELON) was upgraded by Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $11.00 on the company, up from $10.50.

McDonald’s (MCD) was upgraded by Piper Jaffray (NYSE:PJC) from a “Neutral” rating to an “Overweight” rating. They have a price target of $98.00 on the company.

SM Energy (SM) was upgraded by Jefferies from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $114.00 on the company, up from $73.00.

Vantage Drilling Company (VTG) was upgraded by Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) from a “Market Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

Almost Family, Inc. (AFAM) was upgraded by Robert W. Baird from an “Underperform” rating to a “Neutral” rating. They have a price target of $21.00 on the company.

AMEX's (SLI) (URZ) (VTG) (SIHI) (GRC) Trading Over 7%

SL Industries, Inc. (AMEX:SLI), Uranerz Energy Corporation (AMEX:URZ), Vantage Drilling Company (AMEX:VTG), SinoHub, Inc (AMEX:SIHI) and Gorman-Rupp Company (AMEX:GRC) were all trading up over 7 percent on the AMEX today.

SL Industries, Inc. (SLI) was trading at $23.25, gaining $2.92, or 14.36 percent, as of 1:48 PM EDT.

Uranerz Energy Corporation (URZ) was trading at $3.1498, up $0.2998, or 10.52 percent.

Vantage Drilling Company (VTG) was trading at $1.82, rising $0.13, or 7.69 percent.

SinoHub, Inc (SIHI) was trading at $1.85, jumping $0.13, or 7.39 percent.

Gorman-Rupp Company (AMEX:GRC) was trading at $43.65, soaring $2.95, or 7.25 percent.

Vantage Drilling's (NYSE:VTG) Risk Lowered on Rejecton of F3 Capital Note Conversion

Risk for Vantage Drilling (NYSE:VTG) was lowered on the rejection of shareholders of the conversion of the F3 Capital Note to equity, although EPS estimates for 2011 and 2012 remain unchanged by FBR.

FBR says, "We are tweaking our model to account for Vantage's recent fleet status updates. Overall our 2011 and 2012 EPS estimates remain unchanged at $0.05 and $0.10 respectively. We reiterate our rating as the jackup market improvement continues to play out. The stock is also de-risked following the recent shareholder vote against conversion of the F3 Capital Note to equity, and as the sale of the Seadragon rigs lowers the risk of future shareholder dilution."

FBR Capital maintains an "Outperform" rating on Vantage Drilling, which is trading at $2.05, up 0.02, or 0.98 percent, as of 1:41 PM EST. FBR has a price target of $2.40 on them.

Vantage Drilling (NYSE:VTG) Estimated NAV Raised by FBR

FBR raised their estimated NAV on Vantage Drilling (NYSE:VTG) based on recent jackup rig value inflation.

FBR said, "We are increasing our VTG price target to $2.40 from $2.30 as recent jackup rig value inflation drove an increase in our estimated NAV for Vantage. We reiterate our rating as the improvement in the jackup market continues to play out and as the smooth start to Platinum Explorer operations de-risks the stock. That said, we are lowering our EPS estimates for Vantage to account for the termination of the management contracts for the SeaDragon semi-submersibles; we emphasize that this has no impact on our NAV as we previously excluded SeaDragon management fees from our calculation."

FBR Capital maintains an "Outperform" on Vantage Drilling Co., which closed Wednesday at $2.01, up $0.02, or 1.01 percent. FBR boosted their price target on Vantage from $2.30 to $2.40.

Vantage Drilling (NYSE:VTG) Has Limited Downside with Force Majeure

The declaration of force majeure for its Sapphire Driller contract won't have much downside for Vantage Drilling (NYSE:VTG), with the worst case scenario probably being $0.08 a share.

FBR noted, "Last night (Tuesday), Vantage announced that its customer for the Sapphire Driller declared force majeure on the contract due to political unrest in Côte d'Ivoire. While this last-minute declaration will modestly impact Vantage’s near-tern earnings and cash flow, it does not place the company in any financial jeopardy nor does it impact their earnings power. Our bottom line analysis is that this event should not prove material to investor perception of VTG, and that any impact on the stock today should be temporary and represents a buying opportunity for investors seeking to accumulate the shares.

"The worst case impact is a loss of $0.08 per share of discounted cash flows if the force majeure contract provisions do not provide for any cost recovery and the rig is idle for the next six months. In fact, the contract in question is priced at a rate ($20,000 per day) below the current market for this class of rig, ($135,000 to $150,000). We do not expect the rig to be idle for the six-month duration of the canceled contract. It is a premium jackup rig that should find work in fairly short order, likely at a higher rate."

FBR Capital reiterates an "Outperform" on Vantage Drilling Co, which closed at $2.05, the same as the prior close.