The solar sector was hit with a mixed bag of commentary from the brokerage community this morning. My colleague Mark Fightmaster zeroed in on MEMC Electronics Materials' (WFR: sentiment, chart, options) glut of price-target cuts in Early Edge, while Elizabeth Harrow commented on J.P. Morgan's bullish initiation of First Solar (FSLR) earlier this morning. Scanning the rest of the sector, I found that Ascent Solar Technologies (ASTI: sentiment, chart, options) was also targeted by J.P. Morgan, though with much less favorable results.

Specifically, the brokerage firm cut its rating on ASTI from "neutral" to "underweight," citing increased pricing pressures from lower European subsidies. "Given this view, we recommend investors focus on companies that can absorb margin compression, can cut capex in order to remain FCF positive, and are more likely to remain solvent in light of the possibility of further subsidy reductions in Europe in 2010," J.P. Morgan stated.

Checking with Zacks.com I found that there are very few analysts recommending a "buy" rating on the shares. Currently, ASTI sports only 2 "buys," 4 "holds," and no "sells." This configuration leaves room for additional downgrades that could send ASTI further along its recent downtrend. So far today, the stock has lost more than 4%, pulling back to short-term support at the 3.50 level in the process.

On a final note, J.P. Morgan also cut Evergreen Solar (ESLR: sentiment, chart, options) to "underweight" from "neutral." For more on my take on ESLR, be sure to check out tomorrow's edition of the Casual Contrarian.