Benzinga's Morning Upgrade Summary for May 31, 2012

Listed below are today's Top Upgrades at Benzinga: Hilliard Lyons Upgrades Cedar Fair Entertainment FUN to Buy: Hilliard Lyons comments, "The upgrade is prompted by a recent pullback in the unit price despite what we view as favorable prospects for the company's key operating season. Our Suitability rating remains 3 based on market capitalization and a fairly leveraged balance sheet." Maxim Group Upgrades Renren RENN to Hold: Maxim Group comments, "RENN's share price declined more than 20% since the company reported its 1Q12 results, mainly due to the weak performance of its arguable U.S. counterpart, Facebook (FB, $28.15, NR). At current levels, RENN is trading closer to its cash and book value at the end of March 2012, $2.70/share and $3.08/share, respectively. Despite RENN's fundamentals remain weak, y/y declining ad revenue, increasing reliance on game revenue, low visibility on outcomes of current heavy investment, and uncertainty of timeline to profitability, we believe RENN should trade above its cash level given its sizable user base and a series initiatives in building mobile social networks. The current price level is supported by our DCF analysis." ABG Sundal Collier Upgrades Golar LNG GLNG to Buy: ABG Sundal Collier says, "The company is optimistic about future prospects, thus it has raised dividends and has declared a share buy-back program to support this view. We agree and upgrade Golar LNG to BUY (Hold) with a new target price of USD 45 (40) as 1) drop-downs to Golar LNG Partners (GMLP, USD 31.90, not rated) add value – and we expect the equity market to discount additional drop-downs into valuation once the next drop-down to the GMLP is completed, 2) there are plenty of near-term share price catalysts from drop-downs, upcoming vessel fixtures and potential FSRU contract awards, 3) a 6% dividend yield in 2013e coupled with a share buy-back program provides downside support and 4) our EBITDA forecasts are +7%/ 9% above consensus for 2012e/2013e." JP Morgan Upgrades Synchronoss Technologies SNCR to Overweight: JP Morgan notes, "We are upgrading SNCR to OW from N based on valuation. SNCR shares have pulled back 39% since 1Q12 earnings where management talked about AT&T 6th channel reducing volumes. We think the $9M reduction is now priced in and at 1.6x EV/Sales, 13x earnings and 9x FCFF on 2013E, the risk reward now favors to the upside. We do not believe this is a broken business. SNCR remains a double digit organic grower, it is continuing to expand in all channels at AT&T, it just signed a long-term expanding relationship at Verizon and there is potential for upside with additional carrier or upsell opportunities." Morgan Stanley Upgrades Altera Corporation ALTR to Overweight: Morgan Stanley says, "Cyclical trends like 2H12 inventory restocking, and a 2H12 rebound in carrier capex spend should drive outperformance of PLD names. Our analog/PC semis analyst Joe Moore's view that the unusually low inventory position at this point in the cycle should offset mixed end-market demand driving 2H12 upside in analog also applies to PLDs." Canaccord Genuity Upgrades Coinstar CSTR to Buy: Canaccord notes, "We are upgrading our rating… based on modest upward revisions to our estimates reflecting continued marketshare gains in physical DVD, improved Coin comps and better clarity on opportunities within CSTR's New Venture businesses. …We have updated our estimates to better reflect the new business ventures within Coffee, Gizmo and ecoATM. Combined, these ventures could become material exiting 2103. " JP Morgan Upgrades OmniVision Technologies OVTI to Overweight: JP Morgan comments, "With OVTI down 17.5% in May (S&P 500 down 6.1%), we think riskreward is tilting favorable and we are becoming more constructive regarding OmniVision's prospect of winning back the high-resolution CIS slot opportunity on the next-generation Apple iPhone, widely expected to be introduced in 2H12. OVTI's BSI-2 products are now shipping in volume, and we believe 65nm wafer starts at TSMC are ramping in order to meet OVTI's 8MPx product needs (e.g. the OV8850). The Digitimes report regarding related growth prospects at King Yuan and Tong Hsing rings true to us." Pivotal Research Group Upgrades Facebook FB to Hold: Pivotal Research writes, "Despite the debacle associated with the IPO itself, the decline in the shares has led to a valuation that in our view incorporates an appropriate amount of risk, helped along in no small part by increased awareness of additional potential large acquisitions and the company's challenges associated with mobility. The market has also increasingly incorporated diminished/lumpy expectations for revenue growth during the next several quarters." All of Benzinga's Analyst Ratings news can be viewed here.