IAMGOLD (IAG) (KWK) (CQP) (DEE) (LNT) (MOS) (NOV) (SDRL) (SNP) (TRGP) Upgraded

IAMGOLD Corp. (IAG), Quicksilver Resources Inc. (KWK), Cheniere Energy Partners LP (CQP), Delphi Energy Corp. (DEE), Alliant Energy (LNT), The Mosaic Company (MOS), National-Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NOV), Seadrill Ltd (SDRL), China Petroleum and Chemical (SNP) and Targa Resources Investments Inc. (TRGP) were upgraded by analysts.

Barclays Capital upgraded Cheniere Energy Partners L P (CQP) from an "Equal Weight" rating to an "Overweight" rating. They have a price target of $25.00 on the company.

Canaccord Genuity upgraded Delphi Energy Corp. (DEE) from a "Sell" rating to a "Speculative Buy" rating.

BMO Capital Markets upgraded IAMGOLD Corp. (IAG) from a "Market Perform" rating to an "Outperform" rating.

Macquarie upgraded Quicksilver Resources (KWK) from an "Underperform" rating to a "Neutral" rating. They have a price target of $2.50 on the company.

Ladenburg Thalmann upgraded Alliant Energy (LNT) from a "Neutral" rating to a "Buy" rating.

Standpoint Research upgraded The Mosaic Company (MOS) from a "Hold" rating to a "Buy" rating.

Standpoint Research upgraded National-Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NOV) from a "Hold" rating to a "Buy" rating. They have a price target of $82.00 on the company.

Credit Suisse upgraded Seadrill Ltd (SDRL) from a "Neutral" rating to an "Outperform" rating. They have a price target of $48.00 on the company.

Citigroup (NYSE: C) upgraded China Petroleum and Chemical (SNP) from a "Neutral" rating to a "Buy" rating.

UBS AG upgraded STMicroelectronics (STM) from a "Sell" rating to a "Neutral" rating.

Tudor Pickering upgraded Targa Resources Investments Inc. (TRGP) from a "Hold" rating to a "Buy" rating.

Diamond (DO) (CQP) (LNT) (ACMP) (HOC) (NR) (GEL) (MGEE) (QRE) (RTI) Ratings Changes and Initiations

Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. (DO), Cheniere Energy Partners L P (CQP), Alliant Energy Corporporation (LNT), Access Midstream Partners LP (ACMP), Hochschild Mining (HOC), Newpark Resources, Inc. (NR), Genesis Energy, L.P. (GEL), MGE Energy Inc. (MGEE), QR Energy LP (QRE) and RTI International Metals, Inc. (RTI) had ratings on them adjusted by analysts or initiated.

Credit Suisse (CS) upgraded Cheniere Energy Partners L P (CQP) from a "Neutral" rating to an "Outperform" rating.

Wunderlich upgraded Alliant Energy Corporation (LNT) from a "Hold" rating to a "Buy" rating. They have a price target of $50.00 on the company.

Credit Suisse downgraded Access Midstream Partners LP (ACMP) from an "Outperform" rating to a "Neutral" rating.

Iberia Capital downgraded Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. (DO) from an "Outperform" rating to a "Sector Perform" rating.

Fox-Davies Capital downgraded Hochschild Mining (HOC) to a "Sell" rating.

BB&T (BBT) downgraded Newpark Resources, Inc. (NR) from a "Buy" rating to a "Hold" rating.

Barclays Capital initiated coverage on Genesis Energy, L.P. (GEL). They have an "Overweight" rating on the company.

Gabelli initiated coverage on MGE Energy Inc. (MGEE). They have a "Hold" rating on the company.

Credit Suisse initiated coverage on QR Energy LP (QRE). They have a "Neutral" rating on the company.

Bank of America (BAC) initiated coverage on RTI International Metals, Inc. (RTI). They have a "Buy" rating on the company.

Cheniere (CQP) (CERX) (AEP) (NVE) (FE) (ED) Ratings, Price Targets

Cheniere Energy Partners L P (NYSE: CQP), Colombia Clean Power (NASDAQ: CERX), American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), NV Energy (NYSE: NVE), FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) and Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE: ED) ratings and price targets.

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) initiated coverage on Cheniere Energy Partners L P (CQP). They placed a “Neutral” rating on the company.

Rodman & Renshaw initiated coverage on Colombia Clean Power (CERX). They placed a “Market Perform” rating on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) initiated coverage on American Electric Power (AEP). They placed an “Equalweight” rating on the company.

Wunderlich reiterated its "Buy" rating on NV Energy (NVE). They have a price target of $17.50 on the company.

Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on FirstEnergy Corp. (FE). They placed an “Equal Weight” rating on the company.

Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Consolidated Edison, Inc. (ED). They placed an “Underweight” rating on the company.

JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) Deal with Cheniere Energy (AMEX:LNG)

JPMorgan Natural Gas Deal with Cheniere Energy

A number of banks have been moving into the natural gas sector, and that's true with JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), as evidenced by their deal with (AMEX:LNG).

The deal entails importing liquefied natural gas, which while having long term potential, in the short term will put downward pressure on teh profits of JPMorgan.

I'm a long-term investor, so that doesn't bother me in the least, but for those only looking at the short-term, it will be a challenging deal to absorb.

This is the result of the continuing fall of natural gas prices in the United States, which shows no sign of abating any time soon.

How the deal will work, is JPMorgan will jointly buy natural gas cargoes with Cheniere from overseas markets and resale them in the U.S. market. Both will share in any profits or losses incurred from the arrangement.

With the growing number of gas-shale opportunities within the United States, it is becoming more difficult to acquire import loads at a price that will make sense or be profitable.

Adding the balance sheet of JPMorgan to the mix does make it more probable they can make larger acquisitions which could result in lower prices which would make sense at that time.

Either way, this is a long term play, which will demand a lot on the domestic natural gas supply in the U.S., which shows no sign of abating.

JPMorgan competitors like Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) have also entered the natural gas market in anticipation of growing demand. But as long as supply is so available, this shouldn't do much to increase the profits at the companies, but does position them for the day when the supply/demand situation changes.