Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, BlackBerry, Chesapeake, Citigroup, King Digital and More

Investing

Published: March 27, 2014 8:40 am

Stocks have recovered from recent woes, but many investors remain fearful of the next sell-off. 24/7 Wall St. reviews many analyst calls each morning, with an eye for new ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst research reports cover stocks to buy, but some cover stocks to sell. These are this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Wall Street research firms.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Buy with a $625 price target at Jefferies, but the firm is lowering its estimates on iPhone sales by almost 10% to 31 million units. The key for the company remains the iPhone 6.

BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) was downgraded to Sell from Hold with a $6 price target at Societe Generale, just a day ahead of earnings.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was maintained as Hold at Argus, but the independent research firm said that it is seeing signs of improvement under its new CEO.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was downgraded to market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods, based on its capital allocation plan not being approved, so no reinstatement of a higher dividend. Bernstein also downgraded Citigroup to Market Perform from Outperform.

King Digital Entertainment PLC (NYSE: KING) was started with a Neutral rating and given no price target by Sterne Agee, just a day after its poor IPO debut. The call is based on its reliance upon Candy Crush Saga and its future is dependent on its ability to diversify.

Other Key Analyst Calls

Active Power Inc. (NASDAQ: ACPW) was started with a Buy rating and given a $5 price target (versus a $3.15 close) at Roth Capital Partners.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) was started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) was started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

BankUnited Inc. (NYSE: BKU) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight and given a $39 price target by Morgan Stanley.

EnerNOC Inc. (NASDAQ: ENOC) was reiterated as Buy but was called to be setting the pace of the energy software race and called a Best Idea with a $30 target price (versus a $20.55 close) at Canaccord Genuity.

Extreme Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: EXTR) was started as Outperform with a target price of $8 (versus a close of $5.54) at Raymond James.

Federated Investors Inc. (NYSE: FII) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Sterne Agee.

ICON PLC (NASDAQ: ICLR) was started as Outperform with a target price of $55 (versus a $45.16 close) at Credit Suisse.

PVH Corp. (NYSE: PVH) was maintained as Buy but was raised to the prized Conviction Buy List with a $160 price target (versus a $121.43 close) at Goldman Sachs.

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