Benzinga's Top Upgrades with Color for May 23, 2012

Listed below are today's top pre-market Upgrades at Benzinga: Canaccord Upgrades Total SA TOT to Hold: Canaccord went on to say “The past two months have seen little sign of the typical defensiveness from the European integrated oils. We don't think this is too surprising, since 1) the larger Eurozone stocks have acted to some degree as proxies for their domestic markets for much of the past two years and 2) we think much of crude's recent strength was simply due to risk appetite, which is why we have seen such a sharp correction in crude in line with the market in recent weeks. Absolute valuations are now discounting long-term crude prices way below current levels, but investor sentiment towards the sector still seems highly nervous.” Canaccord Upgrades BP BP to Buy: Canaccord went on to say “We don't think BP has the best long-term growth outlook in the sector, but E&P prospects look set to turn up sharply as operations normalise in 2013-14. Meanwhile, we think the shares' recent slump to almost their post-Macondo low vs the US oils leaves the potential for a good recovery on a 6-12 month view, especially if we see catalysts such as a settlement over Macondo fines or further major disposals.” Brean Murray Carret Upgrades The Warnaco Group WRC to Buy: Brean Murray Carret & Co. said, "With WRC trading within 10% of its 52 week low, competitor GUESS? (GES $24.44, Buy) providing relatively upbeat guidance on Europe and Korea and Calvin Klein owner PVH (PVH $77.55, Buy) on track to announce solid results tonight after the close, we believe now is an apt time to become more aggressive in WRC. We believe, after another humbling reduction in guidance, that the company has crafted a case which assumes virtually no recoveries in the key European or Korean markets and leaves room for upside via lower cotton pricing and potential leverage from increased square footage expansion." Bank of America Upgrades Starbucks SBUX to Buy: Bank of America said, "We are raising our rating on SBUX shares from Neutral to Buy. SBUX has corrected by about 14% since its April high and subsequent March quarter earnings release with the weakness, in our opinion, is more a function of pre-release investor expectations getting too high than any significant fundamental issue." Sterne Agee Upgrades Blackstone Group BX to Buy: Sterne Agee says, "We are upgrading the shares of BX to Buy from Neutral. We view the disconnect between the share performance and underlying fundamentals as excessive. While the near-term performance fee realization outlook is muted, we believe it is more than fully reflected in the units at this point. No change to our $18 target price." Imperial Capital Upgrades Aeropostale ARO to Outperform: Imperial Capital says, "Aeropostale has made encouraging progress following a difficult 2011 that saw some internal missteps (i.e., fashion misses) and a still challenging macroeconomic environment. We believe the turnaround story could begin to play out more fully in the back half of the year as merchandise improvements take hold and product cost pressures ease. With over 20% potential upside to our new target price, we are upgrading our rating to Outperform. We continue to believe that Aeropostale is a strong brand with healthy growth opportunity over the long term, including the roll-out of its P.S. from Aeropostale concept." All of Benzinga's Analyst Ratings news can be viewed here.