Catch up on today's top five analyst upgrades with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Lionsgate (LGF.A, LGF.B, LGF) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank. 2. Norfolk Southern (NSC) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan with analyst Brian Ossenbeck saying he estimates $600M of potential productivity gains based on his analysis and points out that he has long favored Eastern rails as a region. 3. China Life Insurance (LFC) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs. 4. Ametek (AME) and Fortive (FTV) were assumed at Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley. 5. Host Hotels (HST) upgraded to Outperform from In Line at Evercore ISI, while Public Storage (PSA) was upgraded to In Line from Underperform. This list is just a portion of The Fly's full analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

Ancora Holdings Group, which owns a large equity stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation, announced that its seven candidates for election to the company's 13-member Board of Directors have received support from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The BLET Teamsters represent locomotive engineers, conductors, brakemen, firemen, switchmen, hostlers and other train service employees at Norfolk Southern. The BLET Teamsters is the second major labor union in as many days to support the Shareholder Slate and its management team, following the announcement of support from the BMWED Teamsters on April 25th. Regarding the BLET Teamsters' decision, proposed CEO Jim Barber stated: "It's a privilege to receive support from the BLET Teamsters, who believe in our plan to improve performance, safety and employee relations at Norfolk Southern. Jamie Boychuk and I had an extremely productive conversation with the Brotherhood about the issues the railroad faces today under current management. We look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with the BLET Teamsters to build a more efficient, safer and sustainable railroad."

Reports Q1 revenue $431M, consensus $427.89M. "Barnes continues to advance our business transformation strategy with solid first-quarter results, additional long-term Aerospace agreements benefiting from our MB Aerospace acquisition, and the completed sale of the Associated Spring and Hanggi businesses in April," said Thomas J. Hook, President and CEO of Barnes. "Following the divestiture, an increasing majority of our earnings are driven by Aerospace, where we are investing to take full advantage of strong demand and attractive growth opportunities. And we continue to integrate, consolidate, and rationalize our Industrial business to further optimize our portfolio for long-term profitable growth. Our comprehensive strategic review is ongoing, and we remain committed to reshaping and positioning Barnes to maximize value for our shareholders. We look forward to sharing our ongoing progress."

The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced that it has determined a change in leadership at Norfolk Southern Corporation is necessary. Tony Cardwell, President of BMWED-IBT, commented: "The BMWED-IBT, after more than a year of non-committal hedging on reasonable, needed changes and untenable shakiness in management at Norfolk Southern, has determined that a change in leadership is needed for the freight rail carrier and its employees. Following yesterday's earnings call and a reasonably constructive meeting with a potential new leadership team, our Brotherhood has determined that a change at the top would be the best course of action for BMWED-IBT members. For many months since East Palestine, the BMWED has not been able to get assurances from the current leadership to implement needed policy and procedural changes to prevent such tragedies from reoccurring. At this juncture, seeing no path forward, we see no reason to support the current administration at Norfolk Southern."

UBS analyst Thomas Wadewitz lowered the firm's price target on Norfolk Southern to $294 from $302 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. Norfolk Southern's Q1 was in like with the pre-report, reflecting weak revenue and margin pressure, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

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Sees Q2 revenue $1.6B, consensus $1.62B. The company said, "For the second quarter of 2024, Fortive anticipates revenue of approximately $1.6 billion, diluted net earnings per share of $0.57 to $0.60 and adjusted diluted net earnings per share of $0.90 to $0.93."