Ledenfrog,  Yes, "analysts," like these shops offering reports, fall into many categories, such as buy-side and sell-side.  There also are people like Roger Smith (Smith on Stocks) who I believe are honest and straightforward about their analysis and reasoning.  However, folks like him are the exception.

Lots of boutique investment bankers put out reports.  Many of the favorable reports are only for clients and intended to promote sale of shares pure and simple.  They often have two "independent" arms, one for advisory services and one for "independent analyses."  Magically, if you retain the arm for advisory services, you get a favorable report.  The firms can be large or small.

Some like Zacks, keep rotating their recommendations between buy, hold and sell until they get retained.  A sell recommendation is a great way to get the attention of a company's management.