Equity Briefing: Upgrades and Downgrades for August 2nd: HOTT, HR, HRC, HSNI, IRG, KCG, KNX, MANT, MCRL, MDAS

A number of stocks were upgraded and downgraded by equities research analysts today, as reported by Analyst Ratings Network (http://bit.ly/arndailyr) and Equity Briefing:

Piper Jaffray  downgraded shares of Hot Topic Inc HOTT from an overweight rating to a neutral rating.

Davenport  downgraded shares of Healthcare Realty Trust HR from a buy rating to a neutral rating.

Piper Jaffray  downgraded shares of Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. HRC from an overweight rating to a neutral rating.

Stifel Nicolaus  downgraded shares of HSN, Inc. HSNI from a buy rating to a hold rating.

Raymond James  upgraded shares of Ignite Restaurant Group Inc IRG from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating.

Raymond James  downgraded shares of Knight Capital Group Inc. KCG from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating.

CLSA  downgraded shares of Knight Capital Group Inc. KCG from a buy rating to a sell rating.

Longbow Research  initiated coverage on shares of Knight Transportation KNX. They issued a buy rating on the stock and set a $19.00 price target.

Wells Fargo & Co.  upgraded shares of ManTech MANT from an underperform rating to a market perform rating.

Wells Fargo & Co.  initiated coverage on shares of Micrel, Incorporated MCRL. They issued an outperform rating on the stock.

Raymond James  upgraded shares of MedAssets, Inc. MDAS from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating.

Global Hunter Securities  upgraded shares of Marathon Oil Co. MRO from a neutral rating to an accumulate rating. Global Hunter Securities now has a $31.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $28.00.

Bank of America  downgraded shares of ArcelorMittal ADR MT from a buy rating to a neutral rating.

Bank of America  upgraded shares of National Grid Transc NGG from a neutral rating to a buy rating.

FBR Capital  downgraded shares of NTELOS NTLS from an outperform rating to a market perform rating. Their analysts now have a $21.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $25.00.

RBC Capital  downgraded shares of Owens Corning OC from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating.

Goldman Sachs  reiterated its buy rating on shares of Oceaneering International OII.

Robert W. Baird  reiterated its outperform rating on shares of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ONXX.

Sterne Agee  upgraded shares of PacWest Bancorp PACW from a neutral rating to a buy rating.

Needham & Company  downgraded shares of Pharmacyclics, Inc. PCYC from a buy rating to a hold rating.

Dahlman Rose  downgraded shares of Potash Corp POT from a buy rating to a hold rating.

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