The Upgrades: Patriot Coal, Freeport-McMoRan and Dollar General (NYSE:PCX),(NYSE:FCX),(NYSE:DG)

Stocks receiving analyst upgrades today include Patriot Coal Corporation (NYSE:PCX), Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX), and Dollar General Corp. (NYSE:DG). 

Patriot Coal Corporation (NYSE:PCX) got an upgrade today from Brean Murray as the firm upgraded the stock from a Hold to a Buy, setting the price target at a hefty $30.  PCX shares are currently trading at $22.57 and over the past 12 months Patriot Coal Corp shares have traded between a 52-week low of $9.76 and its 52-week high of $24.25.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX) shares were lifted today as Canaccord Genuity raised their outlook on the stock from a Hold to a Buy.  They have set a price target at $135, which is pretty high considering shares are currently trading at $117.82.  Shares are up today on the news $1.74 (+1.5%) on good volume of 3.67M shares traded.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE:DG) received an upgrade today from Avondale as the analyst upgraded the stock from Market Perform to Market Outperform.  They lifted the price target to $34.  DG shares are currently trading at $30.14, up 1.14% or $0.34 on volume of 0.39M shares.