Wall Street brokerage analysts initiated coverage on the following companies as a rally ignited markets highers with just 7 trading days remaining on the year:

Stone Energy (NYSE:SGY): Rodman & Renshaw initiated coverage of this company with a rating of Mkt Outperform and a price target of $32 >> $34. About the company: Stone Energy Corporation is an independent oil and gas company. The Company acquires, explores, develops, and operates oil and gas properties onshore and offshore in the Gulf Coast Basin. Get the most recent company news and stock data here >>

Southwestern Energy (NYSE:SWN): Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage of this company with a rating of Buy and a price target of $45 >> $40. About the company: Southwestern Energy Company is an independent energy company primarily focused on natural gas and crude oil exploration, development and production (E&P) within the United States. The Company operations also include natural gas gathering, transmission, and marketing, as well as natural gas distribution. Get the most recent company news and stock data here >>

NetScout Systems (NASDAQ:NTCT): Wunderlich initiated coverage of this company with a rating of Hold and a price target of $16 >> $19. About the company: NetScout Systems, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and supports a family of products that enable businesses and service providers to manage the performance of computer networks and business software applications. The Company’s Application Flow Management solution consists of data collection devices and analysis and presentation software. Get the most recent company news and stock data here >>

(Note: Selected financial data are sourced from Briefing.com via the Wall St. Journal. All data are assumed to be accurate.)

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