Equity Brief: Upgrades and Downgrades for September 10th: RES, RF, RGLD, RKT, ROSE, S, SDRL, SEE, SLXP, SNN

A number of stocks were upgraded and downgraded by equities research analysts today, as reported by Analyst Ratings Network (http://bit.ly/arndailyr) and Equity Brief:

FBR Capital  upgraded shares of RPC, Inc (NYSE: RES) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating.

Goldman Sachs  upgraded shares of Regions Financial Corp (NYSE: RF) from a buy rating to a buy rating.

UBS AG  downgraded shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) from a buy rating to a neutral rating. Their analysts now have a $91.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $86.00.

Deutsche Bank  downgraded shares of Rock-Tenn Company (NYSE: RKT) from a buy rating to a hold rating. Their analysts now have a $75.00 price target on the stock. They noted that the move was a valuation call.

Stifel Nicolaus  upgraded shares of Rosetta Resources Inc. (NASDAQ: ROSE) from a hold rating to a buy rating. Stifel Nicolaus now has a $55.00 price target on the stock.

Nomura  upgraded shares of Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) from a neutral rating to a buy rating. Nomura now has a $7.00 price target on the stock.

HSBC  downgraded shares of Seadrill Ltd (NASDAQ: SDRL) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating.

JPMorgan Chase  initiated coverage on shares of Sealed Air Corp. (NYSE: SEE). They issued an overweight rating on the stock and set a $19.00 price target.

Leerink Swann  initiated coverage on shares of Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ: SLXP). They issued a market perform rating on the stock.

Citigroup  upgraded shares of Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE: SNN) from a sell rating to a buy rating.

Piper Jaffray  upgraded shares of Santarus (NASDAQ: SNTS) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating. Piper Jaffray now has a $10.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $7.00.

Bank of America  upgraded shares of Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) from a neutral rating to a buy rating.

Raymond James  downgraded shares of State Street Co. (NYSE: STT) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating.

Argus  downgraded shares of Seagate (NYSE: STX) from a buy rating to a hold rating. Their analysts now have a $34.00 price target on the stock.

Sterne Agee  downgraded shares of Susquehanna (NASDAQ: SUSQ) from a buy rating to a neutral rating. They noted that the move was a valuation call.

Raymond James  downgraded shares of Telecom Argentina (NYSE: TEO) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating.

TD Securities  upgraded shares of TELUS Co. (NYSE: TU) from a reduce rating to a hold rating.

Bank of America  initiated coverage on shares of Two Harbors Investment Corp (NYSE: TWO). They issued a buy rating on the stock and set a $11.50 price target.

JPMorgan Chase  downgraded shares of Tyco International Ltd (NYSE: TYC) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating. Their analysts now have a $60.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $58.00. They noted that the move was a valuation call.

Stifel Nicolaus  initiated coverage on shares of UQM Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UQM). They issued a buy rating on the stock and set a $1.90 price target.

JPMorgan Chase  upgraded shares of Venoco, Inc. (NYSE: VQ) from an underweight rating to an overweight rating. JPMorgan Chase now has a $12.50 price target on the stock, up previously from $7.50.

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