Benzinga's Morning Upgrade Summary for June 6, 2012

Listed below are today's Top Upgrades covered by Benzinga:

KeyBanc Capital Markets stated, "Our original holding on our downgrade was that indirect growth would slow given growth in the owned retail business. We think this phenomenon has come to pass and is adequately reflected in the current valuation. We also believe that the Company has been taking the right steps to ensure long-term inventory quality; we believe that both owned as well as channel inventory remains manageable."

Drexel Hamilton went on to say “Hearkening to its 1960 founding to exploit emerging digital technologies, Teledyne is steadily re-orienting from military to commercial electronics...2012 revenues and earnings are held beneath consensus at $2.05bn and $4.04 per share from near-term cyclical softness and defense reductions. Largely commercial aerospace, instrumentation and energy acquisitions the past year have re-oriented TDY from prior military program reliance. BlueView acoustic imaging sensors and LeCroy test and measurement bolster earlier business adds in electronic interconnect and imaging.”

Cantor Fitzgerald comments, "The stock is a more attractive relative value given underperformance (due to the flight to "higher growth" rental housing investment options). ELS is now attractive on an absolute basis (our price target of $75.50 implies a 12-month total return of 16.0%, higher than our 12-month total return expectation for the RMZ of 9.5-14.5%) and on a relative basis, trading with an implied cap of 6.2%, vs. 5.2%/6.0% for multifamily/REIT peers, respectively, while '13 AFFO multiples trail at 15.8x, vs. 20.8x/18.4x for multifamily/REITs peers."

Canaccord Genuity notes, "FST has declined over 40% since late February, underperforming the sector by ~15%. The stock now presents upside similar to the sector in our view and offers a compelling 50%+ potential return to our target price. More importantly, we believe Forest is close to finalizing an Eagle Ford joint venture. We expect this deal to lead to a meaningful uplift in share price and greater operational emphasis on the Eagle Ford, which we see as the most repeatable and productive oil asset in Forest's portfolio."

Deutsche Bank notes, "We upgrade NU to Buy from Hold and raise our PT to $39 from $36.50 as we introduce our new outlook following NU's recent merger with NSTAR. We see an attractive entry point into a stock that offers above average LT EPS and DPS growth, below average regulatory risk (no rate cases until 2014), and no need for new equity in the near-term. Despite being a larger and arguably better positioned company post-merger, NU is currently trading at a 4% discount to peers. With this report we transfer lead coverage to Caroline Bone."

Jefferies comments, "Valuation Is Reasonable … with an enterprise value of $14.5B, we estimate the shares are reflecting ~ 1,000 probable Bakken locations. Continental has over 3,000+ unbooked locations assuming 320-acre spacing each for Bakken and Three Forks targets. Our calculation also gives no credit for Anadarko Woodford locations beyond the 120 locations booked as pud's."

Credit Suisse says, "We are upgrading SWN shares to Neutral from Underperform on signs the U.S. gas market is finally poised for recovery. Our deep dive analysis suggests the unpremeditated decline rate for conventional gas is 11%, or 4.1 bcf/d. Recent sharp declines in conventional activity and more permanent shifts in producer economics that favor liquids plays could bring about a faster reset in the gas market than implied by the gas futures strip."

Credit Suisse comments, "Home prices continue recent move higher; traffic stays above expectations: Our May survey of real estate agents pointed to continued strength in home prices, with traffic and inventory levels also suggesting that the momentum will last beyond the Spring season. Traffic exceeded the expectations of agents for the fourth consecutive month, and our price index pointed to sequentially higher prices for the second straight month."