Investment Analysts’ ratings reiterations for Friday, March 1st:
Jabil Circuit (NYSE: JBL) had its outperform rating reiterated by analysts at RBC Capital. RBC Capital currently has a $25.00 price target on the stock.
Jetblue Airways Corp (NASDAQ: JBLU) had its neutral rating reiterated by analysts at Zacks. Zacks currently has a $6.25 price target on the stock. Zacks’ analyst wrote, “We are maintaining our Neutral recommendation on JetBlue Airways. The company is characterized by a favorable business model, cost-saving steps, expansion initiatives and beneficial partnerships. Growing travel demand, network and fleet restructuring, premium on-board services along with attractive entertainment options and foray into new locations are expected to boost the company’s performance, leading to revenue and earnings growth in the coming months. Nevertheless, we prefer to stay on the sidelines, considering JetBlue’s weaker-than-expected fourth quarter results, unstable economic conditions across the globe, competitive threats and regulatory issues. “
JD Sports Fashion (LON: JD) had its buy rating reaffirmed by analysts at Seymour Pierce.
Juniper Networks (NASDAQ: JNPR) had its outperform rating reaffirmed by analysts at RBC Capital. RBC Capital currently has a $27.00 price target on the stock.
Kazakhmys (LON: KAZ) had its reduce rating reissued by analysts at Nomura. They currently have a $10.61 price target on the stock.
Kingfisher plc (NASDAQ: KGFHY) had its sell rating reissued by analysts at Seymour Pierce.
Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) had its hold rating reaffirmed by analysts at TheStreet. The analysts wrote, “Kinder Morgan (KMI) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a hold with a ratings score of C+ . The company’s strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, expanding profit margins and increase in net income. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including generally higher debt management risk and disappointing return on equity.”
Coca Cola (NYSE: KO) had its buy rating reaffirmed by analysts at TheStreet. The analysts wrote, “Coca-Cola (KO) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a buy with a ratings score of A+ . The company’s strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, increase in stock price during the past year, growth in earnings per share, notable return on equity and reasonable valuation levels. Although no company is perfect, currently we do not see any significant weaknesses which are likely to detract from the generally positive outlook.”
Kraton Performance Polymers (NYSE: KRA) had its neutral rating reissued by analysts at Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs currently has a $26.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $23.00. The analysts wrote, “The past three years have been erratic for KRA margins, which have been whipped around by the combination of feedstock price volatility, the company’s choice of FIFO accounting, and KRA’s large amount of inventory. As a result, EBITDA margins of 15.6% in 2010 were cut in half to 7.5% in 2012 as feedstock prices deflated. The feedstock volatility also potentially contributed to volume weakness (1% 2010-12 volume CAGR) as customers were incentivized to destock inventories into falling prices. With that as a backdrop, the outlook for 2013 is significantly better than where KRA started 2012. Feedstock prices, particularly butadiene, are bottoming and have showed significantly less volatility of late after the sharp swings in 2011-12 (Exhibit 1). In 2013 we expect relatively modest and steady inflation in feedstock prices throughout the year that should enable KRA to pass through rising costs more effectively than in years past. This should lead to higher gross margins per ton, which we think could reach management’s goal of $1,000/ton as KRA records FIFO gains in 2013 from inflation rather than the losses reported in 2012.”
Kohls Corp (NYSE: KSS) had its hold rating reiterated by analysts at Deutsche Bank. They currently have a $42.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $40.00. The analysts wrote, “We found Kohl’s FY13 earnings forecast for EPS of $4.15-$4.45 a bit surprising. Specifically, on GPM, the company expects expansion of 15-30 bps in FY13 including flat to +20 bps in 1Q (following 5 consecutive quarters of declines). We, on the other hand, believe GPM declines could continue given (a) clearance related to cold-weather/seasonal items still on the selling floor during our February store checks, (b) substantially heavier inventory levels YOY (up 17.2% at YE and up 6.0% YOY on comparable per store basis) than comp trends (guidance for 0.0%-2.0%) in the Spring/Summer given the 6-9 month lag time for placing orders (product was ordered when sales expectations were higher), and (c) a need for the company to invest further in price and promotion given the flat to down traffic experienced throughout 2012.”
Kohls Corp (NYSE: KSS) had its buy rating reaffirmed by analysts at Jefferies Group. They currently have a $53.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $52.00. The analysts wrote, “KSS shares are out of favour, investor patience is thin, and until SSS come back the stock could remain cheap, sporting a double digit FCF yield. With that said, management continues to push forward with merchandise and marketing changes this year, following a year that was focused more on price and inventory adjustments. If content and promotional changes resonate with its customers this spring, it may yet get out of the penalty box.”
Lafarge S.A. (EPA: LG) had its buy rating reissued by analysts at NATIXIS SA. The firm currently has a $77.92 target price on the stock.
Linde AG (ETR: LIN) had its neutral rating reiterated by analysts at BNP Paribas. The firm currently has a $177.92 target price on the stock.
LKQ (NYSE: LKQ) had its hold rating reiterated by analysts at Deutsche Bank. The firm currently has a $20.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $18.50. The analysts wrote, “Organic growth in Q4 and within 2013 guidance lower-than-expected. LKQ reported 4Q12 EPS of $0.21 vs DBe / consensus of $0.23. Organic growth of 8% (which included an approx 5.5 point contribution from European Car Parts) was lower-than-expected, leading to weaker-than-expected incremental EBIT margin (9.5% vs consensus of 15%), as operating expenses grew more than expected, leading to the EPS underperformance vs consensus. 2013 EPS guidance of $1.00 – $1.09 was somewhat weak vs consensus of $1.09 and we believe 5.5%-7.5% organic growth guidance (vs 6.0% in FY2012) was disappointing given the expected full-year benefit from ECP (which grew 34% organically in Q4).”
Lend Lease Group (ASX: LLC) had its buy rating reiterated by analysts at Moelis & Company. The firm currently has a $11.73 price target on the stock.
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON: LLOY) had its hold rating reissued by analysts at Canaccord Genuity. The firm currently has a $0.53 target price on the stock.
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON: LLOY) had its neutral rating reiterated by analysts at Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse currently has a $0.68 target price on the stock.
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON: LLOY) had its buy rating reaffirmed by analysts at Numis Securities Ltd. The firm currently has a $0.97 target price on the stock.
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON: LLOY) had its buy rating reissued by analysts at Oriel Securities Ltd. They currently have a $0.74 target price on the stock.
Lorillard (NYSE: LO) had its buy rating reissued by analysts at TheStreet. The analysts wrote, “Lorillard (LO) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a buy with a ratings score of B- . The company’s strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, growth in earnings per share and expanding profit margins. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself.”
Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) had its buy rating reaffirmed by analysts at TheStreet. The analysts wrote, “Lowe’s Companies (LOW) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a buy with a ratings score of A . The company’s strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its increase in net income, revenue growth, notable return on equity, reasonable valuation levels and good cash flow from operations. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally high debt management risk by most measures that we evaluated.”
Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX) had its hold rating reiterated by analysts at TheStreet. The analysts wrote, “Lam Research Corporation (LRCX) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a hold with a ratings score of C+ . The company’s strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and good cash flow from operations. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and relatively poor performance when compared with the S&P 500 during the past year.”
Laird (LON: LRD) had its hold rating reiterated by analysts at Investec. The firm currently has a $3.34 price target on the stock.
LSI (NYSE: LSI) had its neutral rating reiterated by analysts at Zacks. Zacks currently has a $7.25 target price on the stock. Zacks’ analyst wrote, “LSI Corp. delivered decent fourth quarter results with the top and bottom lines exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimates. The continuing macro uncertainty and dwindling PC market prompted the company to provide a weak guidance. But we are encouraged by management’s optimism regarding its positive long-term growth. The company is confident of gaining market share backed by new product launches and penetration in growing markets. Moreover, continuous share buyback is also positive for earnings. Though LSI’s growing exposure into the SSD and networking market is encouraging, the weakening demand for traditional HDDs and customer concentration keeps us concerned. Hence, we maintain a Neutral recommendation.”
Luxottica Group SpA (BIT: LUX) had its outperform rating reiterated by analysts at Raymond James. They currently have a $49.35 target price on the stock.
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