Benzinga's Downgrade Summary for June 26, 2012

Listed below are today's Top Downgrades covered by Benzinga:

Hilliard Lyons comments, "Our downgrade is based on past, current, and projected sluggishness with PG's business. Macro and company specific factors have represented tough challenges for the company. Management lowered financial guidance at a recent investor presentation, leading us to reduce our earnings estimates yet again. While we consider PG to have an attractive dividend profile, we believe near-term capital appreciation potential is limited. We prefer to wait for better business conditions and a more favorable earnings outlook for purchase of PG shares."

Raymond James comments, "Despite our positive long-term view toward global methanol markets, we are increasingly mindful of the potential impact that retreating oil prices will have on key industry indicators (i.e. Chinese gasoline/naptha prices), and more importantly, the company's short-term trading valuation. In this context, we find it difficult to ignore the stiff headwinds recently put forth by our US Energy Team that call for $65/bbl oil in 2013. Signals suggesting the Chinese and global economies are slowing also weighed into our decision."

Piper Jaffray notes, "Industry checks point to a continued acceleration of impression buying via online exchanges (a.k.a. RTB), at the expense of ad networks, putting VLCK in the precarious position of having to bid up impressions among many. While it has and will continue to buy lower-priced exchange impressions to complement existing network inventory, economics here eventually go away as more and more exchange buyers outstrip supply. Dotomi now controls VCLK's destiny and while synergies may present themselves in future periods, growth expectations should begin to revert to industry (ad technology) norms in FY13."

JP Morgan says, "Dow is the most expensive of the North American petrochemical companies at this juncture and probably has more relative earnings vulnerability in 2012 than its comparables. Dow tends to perform well in economic environments characterized by generous rates of GDP growth because Dow benefits from vertical integration, the leverage of its fixed costs when operating rates rise, and margin expansion from growth in higher-margin differentiated products. The opposite can be the case, conversely, in a weaker economic environment."

Jefferies comments, "We are downgrading Public Service Enterprise Group to Hold from Buy based on valuation primarily due to the loss of the basis differential between New Jersey and PJM West. …We are reducing our 2012-14 estimates following an update of our forecast model for current forward commodity prices. The major driver of the estimate revision is a reduction of the basis differential between New Jersey and PJM West. Over the past several years this differential has provided PEG with a $4.00-$5.00 per MWh price premium. During the first quarter of 2012 the price differential between New Jersey and PJM has been negligible (well under $1.00 per MWh). When we adjust our model for this lower price we arrive at lower cash flow and earnings for the company's PSEG Power merchant power subsidiary."