Equity Briefing: Upgrades and Downgrades for July 24th: ELT, ELT, ESI, FE, FOSL, GEOY, GT, GWR, HFC, HMA, ITMN

A number of stocks were upgraded and downgraded by equities research analysts today, as reported by Analyst Ratings Network and Equity Briefing:

Credit Suisse  initiated coverage on shares of Elster Group SE ELT. They issued a neutral rating on the stock.

Barclays Capital  downgraded shares of Elster Group SE ELT from an overweight rating to an equalweight rating.

JPMorgan Chase  downgraded shares of ITT Educational Services Inc ESI from a neutral rating to an underweight rating.

Argus  downgraded shares of FirstEnergy Corp. FE from a buy rating to a hold rating.

Piper Jaffray  downgraded shares of Fossil FOSL from an overweight rating to a neutral rating.

Raymond James  upgraded shares of GeoEye GEOY from an underperform rating to a market perform rating.

Goldman Sachs  upgraded shares of Goodyear GT from a sell rating to a neutral rating.

Morgan Stanley  upgraded shares of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. GWR from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating.

Raymond James  upgraded shares of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. GWR from a market perform rating to an outperform rating.

Bank of America  downgraded shares of HollyFrontier Corp HFC from a buy rating to a neutral rating.

Jefferies Group  downgraded shares of Health Management Associates HMA from a buy rating to a hold rating. Their analysts now have a $7.50 price target on the stock, down previously from $10.00.

Canaccord Genuity  downgraded shares of InterMune, Inc. ITMN from a buy rating to a hold rating. Their analysts now have a $11.00 price target on the stock.

Atlantic Securities  initiated coverage on shares of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. JCP. They issued a neutral rating on the stock.

Davenport  upgraded shares of Lance, Inc. LNCE from a neutral rating to a buy rating.

Jefferies Group  downgraded shares of Mizuho Financial Gro MFG from a buy rating to a hold rating.

Citigroup  initiated coverage on shares of Magnum Hunter MHR. They issued a buy rating on the stock and set a $5.00 price target.

Global Hunter Securities  initiated coverage on shares of Magnum Hunter MHR. They issued a buy rating on the stock.

BMO Capital Markets  initiated coverage on shares of Monmouth Real Estate MNR. They issued a market perform rating on the stock.

FBR Capital  upgraded shares of Motorola Solutions MSI from an underperform rating to a market perform rating. FBR Capital now has a $49.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $43.00.

Needham & Company  reiterated its buy rating on shares of Mindspeed Technologies, Inc. MSPD.

Evercore Partners  downgraded shares of Nordic American Tanker Shipping NAT from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating.

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