Understanding Brokerage Ratings Systems Stock analysts typically provide a one-word rating associated with each of their research reports. Each brokerage makes use of its own ratings system. Although brokerages often use similar ratings systems, a buy rating from two firms may mean different things. For example, suppose Merrill Lynch and Davenport Securities both have a buy rating on a given company. Merrill Lynch s buy rating would be its top rating, however Davenport Securities buy rating would be its second highest rating. Even if two firms use the same ratings system, their ratings may mean two different things. One firm s buy rating may mean that they believe the stock will outperform the market by 10% over the next 12 months. Another firm s buy rating might suggest that they believe the stock will rise by 20% over the next 12 months. For this reason, it is important to review the analysts price target relative to the stock s current price. Brokerages rarely issue sell and underperform ratings. Often brokerages will issue a hold or neutral rating for companies they are bearish on. Hold and neutral ratings are often effectively sell ratings. We ve created a dictionary of brokerage s ratings systems to help you compare the ratings systems used by different brokerages. Below are the ratings systems used by 162 brokerages. Brokerage Ratings Systems A ABN Amro - Buy, Add, Hold, Reduce, Sell Aegis - Buy, Hold, Sell Ardour Capital - Buy, Accumulate, Hold, Reduce Argus - Buy, Hold, Sell Ascendiant Capital - Strong Buy, Buy, Neutral, Sell Atlantic Equities - Overweight, Neutral, Underweight Auriga - Buy, Hold, Sell Avian - Positive, Neutral, Negative Avondale - Outperform, Market Perform, Underperform B B. Riley - Buy, Neutral, Sell Barclays - Overweight, Equal Weight, Underweight Barrington - Outperform, Market Perform, Underperform BB&T - Buy, Hold, Underweight Benchmark Co. - Buy, Hold, Sell Bernstein - Outperform, Market Perform, Underperform BGB Securities - Buy, Hold, Sell
BGC Financial - Buy, Hold, Sell BioLogic Equity - Buy, Hold, Sell BMO Capital - Outperform, Market Perform, Underperform, Sell Boenning & Scattergood - Outperform, Neutral, Underperform Bank of America / Merrill Lynch - Buy, Neutral, Underperform Brean Murray - Buy, Hold, Sell BTIG - Buy, Neutral, Sell Buckingham - Strong Buy, Buy, Neutral, Underperform BWS Financial - Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell C C.K. Cooper - Buy, Hold, Sell Canaccord - Buy, Speculative Buy, Hold, Sell Cantor - Buy, Hold, Sell Capital One - Strong Buy, Add, Neutral, Reduce Capstone - Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell Caris & Co - Buy, Above Average, Average, Below Average, Sell Chardan Capital Markets - Buy, Neutral, Sell Charter Equity - Strong Buy, Buy, Market Perform, Underperform CIBC - Sector Outperformer, Sector Performer, Sector Underperformer Citadel - Edge Positive, Add, Neutral, Reduce, Edge Negative Citigroup - Buy, Neutral, Sell CL King - Strong Buy, Buy, Neutral, Sell Cleveland Research - Buy, Neutral, Underperform CLSA - Buy, Outperform, Underperform, Sell Collins Stewart - Buy, Neutral, Sell Compass Point - Buy, Neutral, Sell Cowen - Outperform, Neutral, Underperform Craig-Hallum - Buy, Hold, Sell Credit Suisse - Outperform, Neutral, Underperform CRT Capital - Buy, Fair Value, Sell D DA Davidson - Buy, Neutral, Underperform Dahlman Rose - Buy, Hold, Sell Davenport - Strong Buy, Buy, Neutral, Sell Desjardins - Buy, Hold, Sell Detwiler Fenton - Buy, Hold, Sell Deutsche Bank - Buy, Hold, Sell Dougherty - Buy, Neutral, Sell Dresdner - Buy, Hold, Sell Duncan-Williams - Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Reduce, Sell Dundee - Buy, Neutral, Sell E EarlyBird Capital - Buy, Hold, Sell Evercore - Overweight, Equal Weight, Underweight Evolution - Buy, Add, Neutral, Sell, Reduce 2
Exane BNP Paribas - Outperform, Neutral, Underperform F FBN Securities - Outperform, Sector Perform, Underperform FBR Capital - Outperform, Market Perform, Underperform Feltl & Co. - Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell Fig Partners - Outperform, Market Perform, Underperform First Analysis - Overweight, Equal Weight, Underweight First Global - Outperform, Market Perform, Underperform G Gabelli - Buy, Hold, Sell Garp Research - Buy, Neutral, Sell Gilford Securities - Buy, Hold, Sell Gleacher - Buy, Neutral, Sell Global Hunter - Buy, Accumulate, Neutral, Reduce, Sell Goldman - Conviction Buy, Buy, Neutral, Sell, Conviction Sell Griffen Securities - Buy, Hold, Sell Guggenheim - Buy, Neutral, Sell Guilford - Buy, Hold, Sell H Hapoalim - Outperform, Market Perform, Underperform Hilliard Lyons - Buy, Long-Term Buy, Neutral, Underperform Howard Weil - Focus List, Outperform, Market Perform, Underperform Howe Barnes - Buy, Neutral, Sell HSBC - Overweight, Neutral, Underweight Hudson Square - Buy, Hold, Sell I Iberia Capital- Outperform, Sector Perform, Underperform Imperial Capital - Outperform, In-Line, Underperform ING Group - Buy, Hold, Sell ISI Group - Buy, Hold, Sell J Janco Securities - Buy, Accumulate, Market Perform, Sell Janney Capital - Buy, Neutral, Sell Jefferies - Buy, Hold, Underperform JMP Securities - Outperform, Market Perform, Underperform Johnson Rice - Focus List, Overweight, Equal Weight, Underweight JPMorgan - Overweight, Neutral, Underweight K Keefe Bruyette - Outperform, Market Perform, Underperform Kern and Suslow - Buy, Hold, Sell Kevin Dann - Buy, Neutral, Sell KeyBanc - Buy, Hold, Underweight 3
Knight - Buy, Hold, Sell L Ladenburg - Buy, Neutral, Sell Lazard Capital - Buy, Neutral, Sell Leerink - Outperform, Market Perform, Underperform Longbow - Buy, Neutral, Sell M Macquarie - Outperform, Neutral, Underperform Madison Williams - Buy, Accumulate, Neutral, Reduce, Sell Matrix - Strong Buy, Buy, Add, Hold, Sell, Strong Sell Maxim - Buy, Hold, Sell McAdams Wright - Buy, Hold, Sell Meredith Whitney Advisory - Buy, Outperform, Hold, Underperform, Sell Merriman - Buy, Neutral, Sell Miller Tabak - Strong Buy, Buy, Neutral, Sell, Strong Sell Mizuho - Buy, Neutral, Underperform MKM Partners - Buy, Neutral, Sell MLV Equity - Buy, Hold, Sell Monness and Crespi - Buy, Neutral, Sell Morgan Joseph - Buy, Hold, Sell Morgan Keegan - Outperform, Market Perform, Underperform Morgan Stanley - Overweight, Equal Weight, Underweight N National Securities - Buy, Neutral, Sell Natixis - Buy, Hold, Reduce Needham & Company - Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Underperform Next Generation - Buy, Neutral, Sell Noble Financial - Buy, Hold, Sell Nomura - Buy, Neutral, Reduce Northcoast - Buy, Neutral, Sell Northland Securities - Outperform, Market Perform, Underperform O Oppenheimer - Outperform, Perform, Underperform P Pacific Crest - Outperform, Sector Perform, Underperform Pacific American - Buy, Accumulate, Decrease, Sell Piper Jaffray - Overweight, Neutral, Underweight Pritchard - Buy, Neutral, Sell R Raymond James - Strong Buy, Outperform, Market Perform, Underperform RBC Capital - Top Pick, Outperform, Sector Perform, Underperform Royal Bank of Scotland - Buy, Hold, Sell 4
Rochdale Securities - Buy, Neutral, Sell Rodman & Renshaw - Outperform, Market Perform, Underperform Roth Capital - Buy, Neutral, Sell Robert W. Baird - Outperform, Neutral, Underperform S Sandler ONeill - Buy, Hold, Sell Scotia Capital - Outperform, Sector Perform, Underperform Sidoti - Buy, Neutral, Not Rated Signal Hill - Buy, Hold, Sell Societe Generale - Buy, Hold, Sell Standpoint Research - Buy, Accumulate, Hold, Underperform, Sell Stephens - Overweight, Equal Weight, Underweight Sterne Agee - Buy, Neutral, Underperform Stifel Nicolaus - Buy, Hold, Sell Summer Street - Buy, Neutral, Sell SunTrust - Buy, Neutral, Reduce Susquehanna - Positive, Neutral, Negative T Taglich - Buy, Speculative Buy, Neutral, Underperform, Sell Short TD Securities - Action List Buy, Buy, Speculative Buy, Hold, Reduce ThinkEquity - Buy, Hold, Sell Ticonderoga - Buy, Neutral, Sell Topeka - Buy, Hold, Sell Tudor Pickering - Buy, Accumulate, Hold, Trim, Sell U UBS - Buy, Neutral, Sell W Wedbush - Outperform, Neutral, Underperform Wedge Partners - Buy, Hold, Sell Weeden - Buy, Hold, Sell Wells Fargo - Outperform, Market Perform, Underperform WestLB - Buy, Add, Neutral, Reduce, Sell William Blair - Outperform, Market Perform, Underperform Williams Capital - Buy, Hold, Sell WJB Capital - Outperform, Perform, Underperform Wolfe Trahan - Outperform, Peer Perform, Underperform Wunderlich - Buy, Hold, Sell 5