Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Amarin, Deere, First Solar and More

AECOM Technology Corp. (NYSE: ACM) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.

Amarin Corp. PLC (NASDAQ: AMRN) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup after the biotech posted a narrower loss. The stock was actually up 18% in the early trading indications, and we would point out that the $1.41 close on Thursday compares to a 52-week trading range of $1.36 to $12.90 in this stock.

Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE: BDN) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Corporate Office Properties Realty Trust (NYSE: OFC) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, based on a limited faith in a near-term construction equipment order recovery.

Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) was reiterated as Buy but the price target was raised to $83 from $79 at Argus. The firm sees increases from the Progress Energy merger continuing to drive earnings growth and it sees a positive rate structure for the utility.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was reiterated as Buy at Argus. The price target was raised all the way up to $70 from $51, based on higher revenue and a discounted cash flow model. The firm even currently projects that First Solar could earn $5.80 per share out in 2018.

Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) was maintained Neutral but the target price was raised to $10 from $9 at Credit Suisse.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) was started as Neutral at RBC Capital Markets.

Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. (NYSE: NSM) was clobbered on Thursday, falling from $49.22 to $40.75 on almost 8 million shares after a poor earnings report. Now we have seen the downgrades take hold: to Neutral from Buy at Sterne Agee, to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley and to Equal Weight at Evercore Partners. It was maintained Outperform but with a target lowered to $46 from $62 at Credit Suisse.

Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $1,275 from $1,250 at Credit Suisse.

United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

Whitewave Foods Co. (NYSE: WWAV) was reinstated with an Outperform rating and a $23 price target at Credit Suisse.

Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.