Equity Brief: Ratings Changes for November 13th: HPQ, HSY, IDIX, IGT, IMGN, INVN, JCOM, JCP, JEF

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

Barclays Capital reiterated its equalweight rating on shares of Hewlett-Packard HPQ. They have a $14.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $16.00.

Goldman Sachs reiterated its conviction buy rating on shares of Hershey HSY. They have a $81.00 price target on the stock. They wrote, " (1) roughly 1.5%-2.5% contribution from its North American business (a potentially conservative estimate), (2) 1%-1.5% from Brookside distribution build out and (3) 2%-2.5% from continued momentum abroad."On gross margin, the firm said it is difficult to bridge to anything less than 150 basis points of gross margin expansion given: " (1) management's expectation of modest input cost deflation next year, (2) productivity gains that are likely to approach the high end of its $55-$70mn range ($70mn productivity alone = 140 bps of margin) and (3) volume leverage which offers an offset to mix headwinds abroad."

Maxim Group downgraded shares of Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. IDIX from a buy rating to a hold rating. Their analysts now have a $5.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $11.00.

Zacks reiterated its neutral rating on shares of International Game Technology IGT. They have a $14.00 price target on the stock.

Credit Suisse initiated coverage on shares of ImmunoGen, Inc. IMGN. They issued a neutral rating on the stock and set a $12.00 price target.

Maxim Group initiated coverage on shares of Invensense Inc. (INVN). They issued a buy rating on the stock and set a $14.00 price target.

Sidoti upgraded shares of j2 Global (JCOM) from a neutral rating to a buy rating.

BMO Capital Markets reiterated its market perform rating on shares of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP). They have a $18.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $25.00. They wrote, "We significantly cut our FY2012 GAAP EPS estimate to a loss of $1.52, which compares with our prior estimate of a loss $0.88. On a non-GAAP basis and before pension expense, we estimate FY2012 EPS estimate at a loss of $0.92 compared with our prior profit estimate of $0.17. Including pension expense, our FY2012 continuing estimate now calls for a loss of $1.48. We reduced our FY2013 GAAP EPS estimate from $1.00 to $0.01, or to $0.25 on a non-GAAP basis."

Deutsche Bank reiterated its hold rating on shares of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP). They have a $17.00 price target on the stock.

JMP Securities downgraded shares of Jefferies Group (JEF) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating.

Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Janus Capital Group Inc. (JNS) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating. They wrote, "Three reasons for the downgrade: 1) challenged fundamental outlook including intensifying equity outflows & continued fund underperformance, leading to negative performance fees; 2) fading technical support as Dai-ichi has already bought 11.1% of its minimum 15% stake and Morgan Stanley Dai-ichi analyst, Hideyasu Ban, views an outright acquisition as unlikely near term due to Dai-ichi's M&A objectives; and 3) valuation (13.3x 2013e P/E), is high relative to peers."

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