Benzinga's Upgrade Summary for June 26, 2012

Listed below are today's Top Upgrades covered by Benzinga: Morgan Stanley Upgrades First Horizon National FHN to Overweight: Morgan Stanley notes, "We are upgrading First Horizon to Overweight from Equal-weight. Its reserve build for probable future GSE putback losses, based on new information from Fannie Mae, removes one of the biggest overhangs on the stock: uncertainty. Shares look highly attractive at 8.8x our revised 2013 EPS." Goldman Sachs Upgrades Pitney Bowes PBI to Neutral: Goldman Sachs notes, "Although PBI shares remain exposed to macro headwinds and we acknowledge downside risk to PBI's forecast for calendar 2012, consistent with our lower estimates for 2012 relative to management's current guidance, we see little risk to the company's dividend. Admittedly, the dividend and its current yield of 10.1% remain the single factor that we expect to support valuation for the shares which are now down 19.8% on a year-to-date basis (vs. the S&P 500 which is up 6.2% over the same period) and trade at 7.5X our calendar 2012 EPS of $1.98." Stifel Nicolaus Upgrades Post Properties PPS to Buy: Stifel Nicolaus comments, "We are upgrading to Buy from Hold. PPS shares are off 8.0% from their 52-week high on May 10 (vs the RMZ decline of 4.3%) and are trading below our updated value range of $58-$51, which reflects cap rates of 4.75%-5.25%. …Post continues to experience a broad-based recovery across all of its Sunbelt markets and should have some of the best top-line growth in the sector this year. We would not be surprised if guidance is raised again with its 2Q release as portfolio revenue growth and condo sales should remain the primary earnings drivers over the next couple of years." Deutsche Bank Upgrades AutoZone AZO to Buy: Deutsche Bank notes, "The upgrade is based on four factors: (1) Economic concerns should weigh against new car sales and gas prices are falling, both of which are favorable for AZO's comps; (2) AZO has the best opportunity for further share gains in commercial which leads to industry leading sales trends; (3) operating margins continue to increase, helped by stable pricing and leverage; and (4) stocks with defensive characteristics should get a higher relative multiple in a difficult macro environment." Societe Generale Upgrades Shire Plc SHPGY to Buy: Societe Generale comments, "Coverage of Shire is being transferred to Stephen McGarry. The stock dropped 11% yesterday after the group announced on Friday that the FDA had approved a new generic Adderall XR made by Actavis. Four versions of Adderall XR will now be available in the US versus three previously (from Shire, Teva and Impax). We do not envisage multiple generics will be approved from here and hence forecast that Shire will continue to generate revenues and profits from the Adderall XR franchise, albeit at a lower rate than previously forecast." All of Benzinga's Upgrade coverage can be viewed here.