Analyst Upgrades: ANN, JetBlue Airways, King Digital

Analysts are weighing in today on fashion specialist Ann Inc (NYSE:ANN), airline issue JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU), and Candy Crush creator King Digital Entertainment PLC (NYSE:KING). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on ANN, JBLU, and KING.

• No fewer than four brokerage firms have upped their price targets on ANN, as analysts continue to chime in after Friday's fourth-quarter earnings beat. Drilling down, FBR, Mizuho, and Wedbush all raised their price targets by $3 (to $40, $48, and $39, respectively), while UBS raised its price target by $6 to $41 while underscoring a "neutral" rating. On the charts, the equity is up 10.9% year-to-date, settling at $40.45 on Friday. The upgrades are good news for recent options traders, who have veered towards optimism over the last 10 weeks, as Ann Inc's 50-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) call/put volume ratio of 2.56 sits just 3 percentage points away from an annual peak.


• JBLU is up 2% in pre-market trading as Evercore ISI raised its price target to $19 from $18, and Raymond James upped its rating to "outperform" from "market perform." The bullish attention isn't surprising, as JetBlue Airways Corporation is up about 108.8% year-over-year, and touched a 10-year high of $18.37 on Friday, before finishing at $18.12. However, the brokerage bunch is divided on the security, as over half of covering analysts rate the stock a "hold" or worse. What's more, nearly 18% of JBLU's available float is sold short, which would take almost six sessions to cover, at average trading volumes. A capitulation of short sellers and analysts could spell tailwinds for the shares.


• J.P. Morgan Securities boosted its opinion of KING to "overweight" from "neutral," citing Candy Crush Soda Saga success and five new games in the pipeline. Looking back, the equity has shed over 33% from its March 26, 2014 IPO price of $22.50 to rest at $14.90, including a 3% loss year-to-date. Accordingly, bearish bets on King Digital Entertainment PLC are ramping up, as short interest has increased by over 14% over the past two reporting periods. Currently, nearly 23% of KING's available float is sold short, which would take about eight sessions to cover, at average trading volumes. Ahead of the bell, KING is pointed 5% higher.