UPDATE: BMO Capital Markets Downgrades Ciena Corporation to Market Perform, Lowers PT

In a report published Friday, BMO Capital Markets downgraded its rating on Ciena Corporation

from Outperform to Market Perform, and lowered its price target from $17.00 to $15.00. BMO Capital noted, “We are downgrading CIEN shares to Market Perform from Outperform. The stock has outperformed this year, despite steady estimate revisions. While we are impressed with the increased order momentum, this has been the case for several quarters. We are concerned that the conversion to revenue could remain slow, limiting growth and leverage. At the same time, gross margins should be stable, and opex is growing into FY 2013. While better sentiment around capex could help the shares, we believe the stock already reflects a rebound.” Ciena Corporation closed on Thursday at $15.80.