American Commercial Lines shares fall nearly 9 pct on analyst downgrade

American Commercial Lines shares fall on downgrade

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — Shares of barge shipper American Commercial Lines Inc. plunged Tuesday after an analyst downgraded the company’s stock due in part to continued weakness in the company’s transportation business.

Morgan Keegan & Co. downgraded shares of American Commercial Lines from outperform to market perform. It said it is concerned about barge orders.

The firm also lowered its second-quarter 2009 and full-year 2009 and 2010 earnings per share estimates.

“We expect the inland barge market will lag a general recovery in the economy with excess capacity chasing weak volumes,” a research note from the firm said.

American Commercial Lines shares fell $1.48, or 8.9 percent, to $15.17 in early afternoon trading Tuesday.