Equity Brief: Ratings Changes for November 9th: CSC, CSCO, CTXS, CXO, D, DIOD, DIS, DNDN, DTSI

(Thomson Reuters ONE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) 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: Zacks reiterated its neutral rating on shares of Computer Sciences (NYSE: CSC).

They have a $38.00 price target on the stock. Zacks' analyst wrote, "Computer Sciences is one of the leading players in the information technology (IT) services industry. CSC reported decent second quarter 2013 results, with the bottom line way ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate, but revenue declining marginally on a year-over-year basis. The operating performance of the company improved substantially on a year-over-year basis, whereas the new business awards improved to a considerable extent. Intense competition in the IT and cloud computing space from both small and big players such as Accenture plc. and Hewlett-Packard Company coupled with a challenging macroeconomic condition in European coupled and strained federal budgets may weigh on the stock. We therefore have a Neutral recommendation on CSC." JPMorgan Chase downgraded shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating. They wrote, "To be clear, we're not making a call on FQ1'13, but do believe FQ2'13 guidance is likely to disappoint and expect 2013 to be a tough year as macro pressures persist (weak enterprise and gov't spending, Europe, etc.). We also believe longer term SDN and competitive risks will keep a lid on Cisco's P/E multiple. With the shares likely range bound for the foreseeable future, we see little reason to be Overweight and are moving to the sidelines. We believe battered telco equipment names like Ciena and smartphone and tablet geared Qualcomm look incrementally better for 2013." Barclays Capital downgraded shares of Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating.

Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Concho Resources Inc. (NYSE: CXO) from a hold rating to a buy rating. Stifel Nicolaus now has a $115.00 price target on the stock.

Goldman Sachs upgraded shares of Concho Resources Inc. (NYSE: CXO) from a neutral rating to a buy rating. Goldman Sachs now has a $111.00 price target on the stock. They wrote, "CXO currently trades at 6.4x/5.3x 2013E/14E EV/EBITDA, vs. 5.1x/4.7x average for peers. In our view, the premium is justified given CXO's superior oil growth/returns vs. peers and strong Delaware Basin results which raise confidence in CXO's resource life. We highlight that on 2016 estimates, valuation is at par with peers. We see 38% upside to our $111 DCF- /multiplesbased 6-month target price, lowered from $112 on lower EBITDA (we update 2012E -14E EPS after 3Q results on changes to production/costs/prices)." ISI Group upgraded shares of Dominion Resources, Inc. (NYSE: D) from a hold rating to a buy rating.

Needham & Company downgraded shares of Diodes (DIOD) from a buy rating to a hold rating.

Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of Walt Disney (DIS) from a buy rating to a neutral rating.

Zacks reiterated its neutral rating on shares of Dendreon Co. (DNDN). They have a $4.25 price target on the stock. Zacks' analyst wrote, "Dendreon's third quarter 2012 loss of $0.86 per share was narrower than the year-ago loss of $0.89 per share. However, loss was wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3 cents. We are concerned about the sequential decline in Provenge sales in the third quarter. The successful commercialization of Provenge is crucial for the financial performance of Dendreon as it can drive the company to profitability.

We are also concerned about competition in the prostate cancer market given the presence of J&J's Zytiga and the new entrant in the form of Medivation's Xtandi.

We remain on the sidelines until we see a meaningful improvement in Provenge sales. We currently have a Neutral recommendation on the stock." Barrington Research downgraded shares of DTS (DTSI) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating.

JMP Securities downgraded shares of DTS (DTSI) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating.

Piper Jaffray downgraded shares of DTS (DTSI) from a neutral rating to an underweight rating.

ISI Group upgraded shares of Duke Energy Co. (DUK) from a hold rating to a buy rating.

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Source: Equity Brief via Thomson Reuters ONE [HUG#1656777]

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