We have covered this in more detailed summaries below, but the following included the top stock upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in this last week: Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO); Angie’s List, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI); Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL); CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT); Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS); Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR); Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN); Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. (NYSE: KKD); Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU); Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK); Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD); Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN); Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ); Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM); and Zhongpin, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOGS).
We have given a summary and notes on each below.
Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) could be in for a 15% drop now that shares became overvalued per the Barron’s cover story to kick off 2012 and Davenport downgraded the stock also.
Angie’s List, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) had a rough week after its quiet period ended from its late 2011 IPO. The stock closed out 2011 at $16.10 and ended the week down at $13.23 for a loss of about 18%. Analyst initiation summary as follows:
- Neutral with $18 target at BofA/ML;
- Sector Perform with $17 target at RBC;
- Perform with $16 target at Oppenheimer;
- Buy with $22 target at ThinkEquity;
- Buy with $21 target at Stifel Nicolaus;
- Buy with $19 target at Janney Capital Markets.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) may have just been a reiterated call, but this was the $560 price target call from Canaccord Genuity. Apple’s price target was also lowered to $513 from $530 at Morgan Keegan.
CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) was noted as a “if, then” possible takeover candidate in a SunTrust Robinson Humphrey call this week that is frankly hard to agree with.
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Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was among the banking sector downgrades this week, although shares still managed to close on a positive note if you just compare the price to the prior Friday. Meredith Whitney, Wells Fargo, and Credit Suisse all gave negative calls with downgrades or lower sales and earnings.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) was merely reiterated as a Buy rating at Canaccord Genuity, but the firm’s $94 price target still maintains that the stock could double and then some if the firm is not just being belligerent.
Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN) was named as Value Stock of the Day at Zacks this week, and the 5.5-times expected earnings valuation may be hard to argue with.
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. (NYSE: KKD) was raised to Outperform at a firm called Stephens on Friday, and the call generated more than a 10% gain in the stock in a single day. FULL SUMMARY
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) surged this week on news that Goldman Sachs added the yoga and exercise retail apparel company to the prized Conviction Buy List. Shares were $47.03 before the call, and they closed out the week at $53.68 for a gain of 14% after the call.
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Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) was given a very rare upgrade to Outperform by Credit Suisse this week. FULL SUMMARY
Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) is now being thrown around as a possible bankruptcy reorganization candidate.
Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) shares may have hung in there this week despite some continued peak sales reports from the holidays. The stock was started as Underperform at Zacks this week and it was given the dubious Bear of the Day ranking.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) was given perhaps the most silly research call seen yet in a call to merge operations with Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD). This was actually by Goldman Sachs rather than some college kid posting to a blog.
Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM) recovered a bit in the days after the call, but a downgrade to SELL from an already-cautious Neutral rating from Janney Capital Markets took about 5% out of the share price.
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Zhongpin, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOGS) was a rare positive brokerage call for a Chinese company, but this meat processor and distributor saw shares rise more than 5.5% on Friday after it was started as “Outperform” with a $12.00 price target at Oppenheimer. This one actually closed up 18% this week, but much of the run was before the positive research call.
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JON C. OGG
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