Equity Briefing: Upgrades and Downgrades for August 23rd: AB, ACAS, ADTN, AEO, AKS, ANH, ARCC, ARLP, ASH, BHP

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:

Credit Suisse  upgraded shares of AllianceBernstein Holding LP AB from a neutral rating to an outperform rating. Credit Suisse now has a $16.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $14.50.

Stephens  initiated coverage on shares of American Capital ACAS. They issued an overweight rating on the stock and set a $13.00 price target.

Credit Suisse  downgraded shares of ADTRAN, Inc. ADTN from a neutral rating to an underperform rating. Their analysts now have a $18.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $22.00.

Nomura  reiterated its buy rating on shares of American Eagle AEO.

Dahlman Rose  downgraded shares of AK Steel Holding Co. AKS from a hold rating to a sell rating. Their analysts now have a $5.00 price target on the stock.

Sterne Agee  upgraded shares of Anworth Mortgage Asset Co. ANH from a neutral rating to a buy rating. Sterne Agee now has a $7.20 price target on the stock.

Stephens  initiated coverage on shares of Ares Capital ARCC. They issued an overweight rating on the stock.

Global Hunter Securities  initiated coverage on shares of Alliance Resource ARLP. They issued a neutral rating on the stock and set a $68.00 price target.

Jefferies Group  reiterated its buy rating on shares of Ashland Inc. ASH.

Nomura  reiterated its buy rating on shares of BHP Billiton BHP.

Piper Jaffray  raised its price target on shares of BJ's Restaurants, Inc. BJRI to $45.00.

Piper Jaffray  raised its price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory CAKE to $37.00. They have an overweight rating on the stock.

Jefferies Group  reiterated its positive rating on shares of Calix Networks CALX.

Credit Agricole  initiated coverage on shares of Caterpillar Inc. CAT. They issued an outperform rating on the stock and set a $105.00 price target.

Dahlman Rose  initiated coverage on shares of CGG Veritas CGV. They issued a buy rating on the stock and set a $42.00 price target.

Nomura  reiterated its neutral rating on shares of Chico's CHS.

Howard Weil  lowered its price target on shares of Continental Resources, Inc. CLR from $88.00 to $85.00. They have a market perform rating on the stock.

DA Davidson  initiated coverage on shares of Clearwire CLWR. They issued a neutral rating on the stock and set a $1.90 price target.

Cantor Fitzgerald  downgraded shares of CoreSite Realty Corp COR from a buy rating to a hold rating. Their analysts now have a $28.00 price target on the stock.

Jefferies Group  reiterated its buy rating on shares of Covidien plc COV.

Barclays Capital  initiated coverage on shares of Cirrus Logic, Inc. CRUS. They issued an overweight rating on the stock and set a $47.00 price target.

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