CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Visteon Corp. (NYSE: VC), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT), Saks, Inc. (NYSE: SKS) and Dassault Systemes (Nasdaq: DASTY).

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Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

Visteon Downgraded to Sell

Visteon Corp.’s (NYSE: VC) near-term prospects have been dampened by constant production cuts at Ford (NYSE: F), higher costs and uncertainty about its restructuring efforts. An apparent rise in non-Ford revenue was not enough to drive the stock.

The current cost structure combined with spiraling raw material costs is likely to challenge VC’s operating performance in the upcoming quarters. Commodity pricing pressures would continue to challenge many suppliers like VC. The highly-leveraged balance sheet still needs to be tackled. Considering these factors, we downgrade the shares from Hold to Sell and set a target price of $2.50.

BB&T Estimates Chipping Away

BB&T Corporation’s (NYSE: BBT) 2Q08 diluted operating earnings came in at $0.69 per share, a penny ahead of consensus.

The results were supported by 11 bps sequential expansion in the net interest margin and strong growth in fee-based income. While the loan growth was healthy, non-performing assets and net charge-offs rose sharply due to further deterioration in the residential real estate markets.

Saks Coming Back Down to Earth

We are downgrading Saks, Inc. (NYSE: SKS) from Buy to Hold. While the stock is up about 8% from our July 16 upgrade, we don’t believe it will outperform the market over the next six months. We were disappointed by the company’s second quarter results and the management’s outlook for the second half of the year. We were not alone. The stock sold off over 8% on the news.

The company’s results demonstrate that higher-end retail is now deteriorating along with the rest of the retail sector. For Saks, that points to weak sales trends and lower profit margins in the back half of the year. As a result, we are taking down our estimates for 2008 and 2009. We also expect consensus estimates to decline, and that will further pressure the shares in the months ahead.

Dassault Trades within Fair Range

Dassault Systemes (Nasdaq: DASTY) reported revenues below our estimates for the second quarter of 2008 but matched our earnings expectations.

It continues to forge strategic alliances and partnerships to stay ahead of competition. Dassault is a proven leader in its field and garners a high price-to-earnings multiple. At 22.7x our 2008 earnings estimate or 20.5x our new 2009 estimate, the company is priced around 2.0x to 2.2x its long-term growth rate.

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