Monsanto (MON) (DE) (WY) (SEP) (NOV) Ratings, Price Targets

Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON), Deere & Company (NYSE: DE), Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY), Spectra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: SEP) and National-Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NYSE: NOV) had ratings and price targets on them adjusted by analysts.

Deere & Company (DE) was downgraded by ISI Group from a “Buy” rating to a “Hold” rating. They have a price target of $94.00 on the company.

Weyerhaeuser (WY) had its price target raised by BMO Capital Markets from $16.00 to $20.00. They have an “Underperform” rating on the company.

Monsanto Co. (MON) was downgraded by Monness Crespi & Hardt from a “Neutral” rating to a “Sell” rating.

Spectra Energy Partners, LP (SEP) had its price target lowered by Wunderlich from $35.00 to $31.00. They have a “Hold” rating on the company.

National-Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NOV) was downgraded by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) to an “Underperform” rating.

Monsanto (MON) (APC) (JCP) (JWN) (KSS) (DDS) Attract New Coverag

Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON), Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC), J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP), Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN), Kohls Corp (NYSE: KSS) and Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS) attracted new analyst coverage.

Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) is covered by Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC). They have a “Market Perform” rating on the stock.

Anadarko Petroleum (APC) is covered by Stifel Nicolaus. They have a “Hold” rating on the stock.

J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP) is covered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM). They have an “Overweight” rating on the stock.

Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN) is covered by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.. They have a “Neutral” rating on the stock.

Kohls Corp. (KSS) is covered by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.. They have an “Underweight” rating on the stock.

Dillard’s Inc. (DDS) is covered by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.. They have a “Neutral” rating on the stock.

Hess (HES) (BAC) (MON) (MRO) (EPB) (NGLS) Ratings and Price Targets

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) upgraded Hess Corp (NYSE: HES) from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating. They have a price target price target of $104.00 on the company.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC).

Wunderlich reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of El Paso Pipeline Partners (NYSE: EPB). They have a price target of $42.00 on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reiterated an “overweight” rating on of Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON). They have a price target of $77.00 on the company.

Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Targa Resources Partners LP (NASDAQ: NGLS).

Oppenheimer cut their price target on Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE: MRO) from $62.00 to $40.00. They have an “outperform” rating on the company.

Potash (POT) (CF) (MOS) (AGU) (MON) (DE) Jump on Record Corn Futures

Potash (NYSE:POT), CF Industries (NYSE:CF), Mosaic (NYSE:MOS), Agrium (NYSE:AGU) and Monsanto (NYSE:MON) close up as corn futures settle at record price.

Also climbing was Deere & Co. (NYSE:DE), as the manufacturer of farm, turf and lawn equipment usually moves up on positive agriculture news.

Corn futures soared to a new settlement price record, with the July front-month contract rising 21 cents, or 2.8 percent, to settle at $7.854 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. It reached as high as $7.93 before pulling back.

Lower acreage planted in the U.S., rising demand from China, and weather-related crop damage is pushing the price of corn up.

Wasting corn supply on ethanol is also weighing on the corn equation.

Potash closed Thursday at $55.36, gaining $2.12, or 3.98 percent. CF Industries closed at $154.86, soaring $6.24, or 4.20 percent. Mosaic closed at $68.84, rising $3.18, or 4.84 percent. Agrium ended the day at $84.71, jumping $2.76, or 3.37 percent. Monsanto closed at $69.51, up $1.89, or 2.80 percent. Deere closed at $82.00, increasing $2.04, or 2.55 percent.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Going Bull on Monsanto (NYSE:MON), Potash (NYSE:POT) and Mosaic (NYSE:MOS)

Citing the support for corn prices of over $5 a bushel, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) said they like the overall agriculture sector, and believe Monsanto (NYSE:MON), Potash Corp. (NYSE:POT) and Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) are undervalued.

With China changing their tariff policy lately, Morgan Stanley also sees the possibility of the price of fertilizer rising soon.

Morgan says corn prices should retain support over $5 a bushel, with earnings for 2011 and 2012 reaching $2.01 a bushel, an increase from the $1.52 a bushel generated in 2010-2011.

Monsanto (NYSE:MON) Sugar Beet Decision Could be Reversed

The USDA has put forward a plan in response to the ruling by a judge which would disallow the planting of Monsanto (NYSE:MON) sugar beets next year.

While offering several options in their plan, the USDA prefers to allow the planting of sugar beets in 2011 because it could result in a 20 percent drop in sugar production in the U.S. if they don't.

A court in California ruled the sugar beets could be produced again until May 2012 while a complete environmental impact study was performed; something the judge determined allegedly hadn't been done.

The USDA gave Monsanto permission to plant the sugar beets in 2005. Genetically modified crops are usually enhanced with the ability to resist Roundup herbicide, which is also produced by Monsanto.

Monsanto (NYSE:MON) Enters Agreement with FMC Corporation

One of two agreements made by Monsanto (NYSE:MON), they entered into a deal with FMC Corporation to expand their Roundup Ready PLUS weed management platform for use with select products from FMC.

Herbicides from FMC included in the deal are Authority Assist, Authority First DF, Authority MTZ DF and Authority XL, which are preemergence residual herbicides used for soybeans.

According to a press release, Monsanto will license its Roundup Ready PLUS weed management trademarks for use with these specific FMC herbicides.

Mike Frank, vice president of Monsanto's crop protection business, said, "This new agreement provides growers a choice of products within the FMC soybean pre-mix residual brand line-up for effective and economical weed control in Roundup Ready soybean systems.”

Monsanto also made a similar deal with Sumitomo Chemical and their subsidiary Valent.

Monsanto (NYSE:MON) Partners with Sumitomo Chemical, Valent

Monsanto (NYSE:MON) has entered into an agreement with Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. and their wholly-owned subsidiary, Valent U.S.A. Corp. in relationship to their Roundup Ready PLUS weed management platform in the United States.

As part of the deal Monsanto will help market SCC's flumioxazin products in Argentina and Brazil.

Included in the agreement with Valent are herbicides like Select branded post-grass herbicides used in the U.S., and preemergence residual herbicides Fierce, Ganster, Valor SX and Valor XLT.

Monsanto will license its Roundup Ready PLUS weed management trademarks to use with herbicides from Valent.

Mike Frank, vice president of Monsanto's crop protection business, said, "This new agreement provides a clear path forward in cooperative weed management initiatives for years to come.”

Monsanto (NYSE:MON) on Finding Opportunities in Commoditized Markets

At "Fruit Attraction 2010," Monsanto (NYSE:MON) encouraged participants to think of ways of "finding opportunities in commoditized markets," the basis of the success of Monsanto throughout its existence.

Along with the benefit on the business side of differentiating themselves, Monsanto added they need to do this in light of creating value for the consumer.

Florent Rezeau of Monsanto’s Consumer Benefits team said: “In order to know the value we can bring to all involved in the produce chain, we need to understand our industry partners and their customers’ needs and challenges. We can only do that by teaming up and sharing our knowledge.”

Maren Schoormans of Monsanto’s Consumer Benefits team added: “Monsanto has hosted various consumer panels in the EU to help understand consumers’ perception of the taste and quality of our existing products and product innovations. Together with our industry partners, we can use this information to identify areas for improvement which can help contribute to success across the chain. It will also help us define marketing strategies for new, improved products, like our Ventero tomato and Cyro line melon varieties.”

Monsanto (NYSE:MON) Shares Boosted on Takeover Rumors

The on-again, off-again rumors and speculation surrounding the possible takeover of agriculture giant Monsanto (NYSE:MON) are making their rounds again today, and the share price of the company shot up in response, although they've pulled back a little as the trading day has went on.

Maybe the highly reported bid by BHP (NYSE:BHP) for Potash (NYSE:POT) has stirred up the rumor pot again concerning Monsanto.

Of course plunging from their annual peak of a little over $87 a share has something to do with it as well, as they're probably considered a bargain at this time, as the probability of corn prices remaining higher is real, and that could cause the share price of Monsanto to rebound.

If a company was interested, they wouldn't want to wait for that to happen where they would then have to pay a strong premium for the company.

Monsanto will always be controversial because of its products, but they're especially weak and beaten down now, probably the reason of a potential takeover rears its head on a consistent basis.

Monsanto (NYSE:MON) Sued by WV Over Alleged Non-cooperation

In an effort to find out if the claims by Monsanto (NYSE:MON) over their Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans are proven through test results, the state of West Virginia has sued the company because the allegedly won't cooperate.

The truth is for some reason the usual practice of including a protective order related to the confidential intellectual property information isn't being agreed to be the district attorney of West Virginia, making the lawsuit suspect at best.

In response, West Virginia is seeking an order to allow them to bar Monsanto from selling products in the state until they comply with their order.

So while Attorney General Darrell McGraw alleges he's attempting to check out the assertions of Monsanto over their soybeans, he won't allow a protective order to be included in the case. That makes no sense, and questions his integrity over the protection of intellectual property.

What reason in the world wouldn't a protective order be included unless there's an agenda of some sort. It makes little sense.

The supposed reason of the inquiry is to find out if the extra cost of seed is backed by higher yields.

Monsanto said it Roundup Ready 2 Yield soybeans yield about 38 bushels an acre more than its original soybean.

Monsanto (NYSE:MON) Sugar Beet Ban Could Lower US Sugar Production by 20 Percent

In a study by the US Department of Agriculture on the ruling by District Judge Jeffrey White on banning Monsanto's (NYSE:MON) Roundup Ready sugar beets until further testing, the conclusion is sugar production in the U.S. could drop by 20 percent in 2011.

Daniel Colacicco, a USDA economist, concluded, "The limited availability of conventional seed will severely restrict plantings of sugar beet in 2011."

White ruled the sugar beet seed of Monsanto couldn't be planted again until more extensive environmental impact studies were completed.

In 2009, genetically modified sugar beet seeds accounted for about 95 percent of the crop grown in the U.S. Estimates are about 1.6 million tons of sugar beet production will be lost in 2011 from the decision.

Some thing there will be intervention of some type to keep that from happening.

Sugar beets already in the field are allowed to be harvested this year.

Monsanto (NYSE:MON), Apio Offering New Beneforté Broccoli

Monsanto (NYSE:MON) and partner Apio announced a new and improved strain of Broccoli named Beneforté will soon hit the supermarket shelves.

The broccoli will reportedly be ready to ship in the first quarter of 2011, according to Apio.

There won't be a large abundance of the broccoli, as the low amount of available seed will limit the initial launch.

Apio CEO Ron Midyett said the new broccoli variety was a cross between a wild variety found in the southern part of Italy and other more traditional varieties.

The asserted higher nutritional content comes with the wild variety, according to Midyett.

Claims by Midyett are the new Beneforté broccoli increases the antioxidant glucoraphanin enzyme levels of the human body at least twice that of existing broccoli varieties. He also said other antioxidants in the body get a boost as well.

Monsanto’s vice president of consumer benefits, David Stark, said concerning the multi-year project, “It is long road for us, but our objective is to bring flavor and nutrition back to produce so that people enjoy eating healthy foods.”

Stark said Monsanto has no problem with the claims made about the broccoli, and the "science of this is really good.”

Will Monsanto (NYSE:MON) Be Best Stock of 2011 after Worst of 2010?

Monsanto (NYSE:MON) has been beat up so much this year that the question of whether or not it may be the worst stock of 2010 has been proffered by some commentators and analysts.

While there has been some market factors involved with the poor performance of the stock, such as disappointing results from it SmartStax corn, its sugar beets being put on hold be a judge until more thorough research has been performed, prices too high in a recessionary environment, and the appearance of, and in some cases, actions, showing there is an arrogance there that the company needs to rein in. One being suing farmers who had seed from neighboring farms of Monsanto coming on their land and Monsanto saying they should have to pay for them.

There has also been some inroads into the market share of some Monsanto seeds by competitor DuPont (NYSE:DD), and of course the loss of patents and market share to products now being offered at commodity prices.

Even with all that stuff that sound ominous, there are numerous other products which make Monsanto still the giant in the field, with little in the way of competition which will knock them out of that spot in the short- or mid-term. It is there's to hold onto if they want to remain the market leader.

What that leads to is their performance this year. While some have openly wondered why Monsanto is performing as they are, they are largely technical analysts who don't understand the public relations side, or simply ignore it.

In today's digital media world, those who don't approve of genetically modified seed and other Monsanto products, can make a lot of noise beyond their numbers to give the appearance of a groundswell of opposition, when in reality it's more noise than a real grass roots uprising.

That's not to say opposition isn't real and effective, just that it's not as big as it seems, and it doesn't stop Monsanto from opening up new markets.

With a company like Monsanto an investor must look past the news that will always be there and look at their pipeline and competitive advantage.

In other words, don't read media stories and assume because there is controversy that the company is doing poorly. Look at their actual performance and whether they're valued closed to what they should be.

For 2010 Monsanto is down over 33 percent, which isn't a reflection of their actual or future performance. While the SmartStax corn seed is important and a part of the reason for such negative share performance. It is because it was considered the major engine of growth in the short-term of the company.

It's not that it isn't a good product, but it hasn't measured up to expectations, and the company has rightly paid the price for it. But it seems there may have been far too much focus on that, by both the company and investors, so the company took a big hit when results showed it wasn't up to par.

But in a relatively short time the price of corn has skyrocketed because of corn yields being lower than expected, so the reasons farmers were disgruntled and pulling back before, which related to whether or not paying the higher price was worth the yield, are pretty much gone with the higher corn prices, and Monsanto could generate higher sales for the spring planting because of that.

New markets are also opening up via approval of Monsanto products, especially in Latin America markets; specifically Brazil and Argentina. Once they gain approval to sell products overseas, Brazil will plant large amounts of Monsanto seed to meet the demand.

The bottom line is Monsanto is so out of favor that it's due for a rebound, and although there are obvious challenges, the underlying fundamentals are still in place. And when they do take off, they could soar.

Monsanto (NYSE:MON) Gets Latin American Approval for Corn, Soybeans

Latin America is starting to become a significant growth region for Monsanto (NYSE:MON), as two more approvals for products has been awarded to them: one in Brazil and the other in Argentina.

In Brazil, they approved of Bt Roundup Ready 2 Yield (BtRR2Y) soybeans, and in Argentina approval was given for Genuity VT Triple PRO corn.

What's left in Argentina before commercializing the seed is to complete its hybrid registration, which should happen before the end of October.

Brett Begemann, Monsanto's executive vice president – seeds & traits, said this, "These approvals are great news for our farmer customers in Brazil and Argentina. It's a promising recognition of technology's contribution to agriculture in helping to meet the world's growing grain demands more sustainably."

Everything in Brazil is ready for the introduction of the corn seed. What's left to be done is to secure approval to import the product from Brazil to other countries.

Once that is secured, corn planting and production will begin.

Will Monsanto (NYSE:MON) Go Any Lower? Time to Buy?

Monsanto (NYSE:MON) is the type of stock that is extremely difficult to gauge, as many factors work against getting a solid grip on the fundamentals of the company. So when numbers and guidance are thrown around, most investors are left scratching their heads.

For example, two major factors are the media noise created from the strong opposition in some quarters to the company and its purpose. Secondly, the technology connected to the products of the agriculture giant isn't understood by most, and even when explained, leave most people in somewhat of a daze.

So when you have strong media opposition coupled with complicated technology, it leaves room for all types of assertions and interpretations which simply can't be confirmed or understood by those trying to look into the company.

Even with the opposition, that isn't the major reason behind the struggles of Monsanto. It is a part though, as the injunction against sugar beets recently revealed.

But overall, it's their patents running out and new products not performing to expectations which is driving down the stock price. That and higher prices in a recessionary period. Higher crop prices could help solve that dilemna.

So even though they're looked upon as an agricultural company, operationally they're very similar to a pharmaceutical company with patents running out and new drugs hopefully in the pipeline for them.

Still, Monsanto does have a strong competitive edge with some of their products, and that will remain in place, even though they've lost market share to DuPont (NYSE DD) with some seed.

The question is whether or not the bad news has been fully priced into the stock or not, and if it's time to buy again.

It did start to rebound at the beginning of October after plummeting in share price at the latter part of September.

We do have to leave off the political correctness and assertions from the celebrity "financial experts" and simply look at the company itself.

The key in the short term is the performance of their SmartStax corn seed. Early returns were disappointing, and the final returns from more northerly states haven't come in yet.

If they're closer to estimates, it could help push Monsanto back on the upward path again.

Other news is in some part of the world, including Brazil, some products are being cleared for use, and over the long term that will help the company.

Again, the hardest thing about Monsanto is the enormous amount of clutter and complexity associated with them. It takes a lot of work to sift through what's real and what's not to get even close to the truth.

Just the pure negative sentiment and being called by some possibly the worst stock of 2010, is a reason to take a second look at them to see if they're reaching bargain levels.

Monsanto (NYSE:MON), DuPont (NYSE:DD), Dow (NYSE:DOW) Receive Coverage from Credit Agricole (OTC:CRARY)

The soaring price of major grains corn, soybeans and wheat has a number of agriculturally related stock generating interest, as they soar in price, including firms like Monsanto (NYSE:MON), DuPont (NYSE:DD) and Dow Chemical(NYSE:DOW), which have had coverage initiated on them by Credit Agricole (OTC:CRARY).

Lower estimated crop yields in the sector are the reasons behind the surge in prices.

Monsanto and its nemesis DuPont were both started off with "Outperform," while Dow Chemical received an "Underperform" rating from Credit Agricole.

Dow Chemical closed the trading session on Wednesday at $29.82, rising a penny, or 0.03 percent. Credit Agricole has a price target of $88 on them.

Dupont finished at $46.88, gaining $0.59, or 1.27 percent. A price target of 54 has been placed on the company.

Monsanto performed the best of the three Wednesday, reaching $54.69, a gain of $2.44, or 4.67 percent. They have a price target of $60 a share.

Terra Nitrogen, (NYSE:TNH), CF Industries (NYSE:CF), Syngenta and Higher Corn Prices

Terra Nitrogen Company, L.P. (NYSE:TNH), CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) and Syngenta AG (NYSE:SYT) all moved up strongly on Monday as the market digested the lower estimates related to corn, soybeans and wheat, and especially corn and soybeans, whose estimates were lowered by over 20 percent each.

CF Industries and Terra were both up over three percent, while Syngenta moved up over 1 percent on the day.

Much of the agriculture sector increased in share price on Monday, including most farming equipment makers, fertilizer companies and some seed companies, including Monsanto (NYSE:MON).

Larger fertilizer companies like Potash (NYSE:POT), Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) and Agrium (NYSE:AGU) went positive, all up over 1.5 percent, with Agrium finishing up over 2.3 percent.

Syngenta AG moved up at the levels of Potash and Mosaic, closing the day at $53.81, up $0.72, or 1.36 percent. Terra Nitrogen closed the session at $106.52, rising $3.12, or 3.02 percent. CF Industries ended the day at $113.45, gaining $3.55, or 3.23 percent.

Monsanto (NYSE:MON) Helped by Lower Corn Yield Projections?

With almost everything going against it, Monsanto (NYSE:MON) may get some help from the recent corn yield estimates which were about 25 percent lower than projected, which should inevitably drive corn prices up even more.

One of the major and successful strategies of DuPont (NYSE:DD) has been to put in the minds of farmers whether or not the added traits of Monsanto's SmartStax corn is worth the extra price.

When early returns from the field revealed yields were lower for SmartStax corn, that added fuel to the fire, and Monsanto is left wondering, along with their shareholders, where future growth was going to come from.

Now that the overall corn yield in the U.S. is far lower than expected, and corn prices sure to increase, that leaves higher margins for farmers to work with, which may persuade them to give Monsanto another try.

Of course DuPont will probably respond to that challenge and lower their prices to gain even more market share.

Even so, if yields are enough to generate interest from more northerly fields, which haven't revealed results yet, Monsanto just may get an unexpected boost from higher corn prices.

That could also include higher soybean prices as well, where soybean yields are over 20 percent lower than estimates too.

Soleil Slashes Earnings on Monsanto (NYSE:MON), Likes DuPont (NYSE:DD) Better

Soleil Securities cut its earnings estimate on Monsanto, saying they see limited upside for the company. They prefer DuPont (NYSE:DD) instead, whom they rate as a "Buy." They maintain a hold on Monsanto, which has lost market share to DuPont in some segments.

Soleil said, "We cut our MON F2011E EPS to $2.65 from $2.75 on several areas of execution risk discussed below. Guidance is for $2.77 and current consensus is for $2.84. We launch a F2012E of $3.05...We favor DuPont
(NYSE:DD). Given limited upside in Monsanto, we see more upside in DuPont
(Buy-rated), which should benefit from Monsanto's execution issues ... Potential catalysts, next year. Three products in Phase IV which
should launch in F2012E: drought-tolerant corn, refuge in a bag, and insect-protected soy in Brazil. But we note that Pioneer should have competitive products for the first two opportunities."

Monsanto could end up with the dubious distinction of being one of the worst performers in 2010.

They could be saved if their SmartStax corn seed performs strongly in the northern states, as Illinois results were below expectations.

Monsanto closed Thursday at $48.83, gaining $0.18, or 0.37 percent. Soleil has a price target of $50 on the seed giant.