Stocks were trying to stage a small recovery on Wednesday after two days of selling pressure have rattled the markets. Investors are still looking for upside in stocks, but perhaps via key stock picks rather than just trying to ride a tired bull market even higher. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning of the week. We are looking for new ideas for our readers. Some of the analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and some cover stocks to sell or stocks to avoid.

These are this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Wall Street firms.

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) was reiterated Buy with an $18 price target at Sterne Agee. Merrill Lynch maintained its Neutral rating and $16 price target.

Apollo Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: AINV) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $10 price target (versus a $8.56 close and a $8.83 consensus target) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. Keep in mind that this is one of those stocks that yields over 9%.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank

Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) was raised to Outperform from Perform with a $45 price target (versus a $37.62 close) at Oppenheimer.

Container Store Group Inc. (NYSE: TCS) is at a post-IPO low after cutting earnings guidance handily. Barclays has cut its price target to $26 from $32. Credit Suisse slashed its price target to $32 from $45.

Deutsche Bank A.G. (NYSE: DB) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at J.P. Morgan

DHT Holdings Inc. (NYSE: DHT) was started with a Buy rating at Canaccord Genuity.

Enbridge Inc. (NYSE: ENB) was reinstated as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

ALSO READ: Merrill Lynch Top Value Picks for the Rest of 2014

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $79 from $81 (versus a $64.39 close) at Argus, based on its lower net cash balance at the end of its first quarter. Still, First Solar was called the best-positioned company in the solar industry in the call.

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) was downgraded to Underperform from Sector Perform at Pacific Crest.

Gigamon Inc. (NYSE: GIMO) was indicated down 30% to a 52-week low of $12.65 or so after cutting revenue guidance. Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and William Blair have all been seen downgrading the stock on Wednesday.

HollyFrontier Corp. (NYSE: HFC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE: ITW) was raised to Buy from Hold with target of $102 at Argus.

International Paper Co. (NYSE: IP) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (NYSE: KKR) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the price target was raised to $33 from $29 at Credit Suisse.

KLA-Tencor Corp. (NASDAQ: KLAC) was started with an Overweight rating at Piper Jaffray.

Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) was started with an Overweight rating at Piper Jaffray.

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Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) was downgraded to Underperform from Perform by Oppenheimer.

PHH Corp (NYSE: PHH) was reiterated as Buy with a $30 price target and $28 implied forward book value (versus a $23.66 close) at Sterne Agee.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight by J.P. Morgan.

Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at HSBC Securities.

Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo with a price target of $98 to $105 (unchanged), based on consensus growth estimates too high and a potential for slower core growth.

Zillow Inc. (NASDAQ: Z) was started with an Outperform rating at Macquarie.

In case you missed Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included CSC, The Fresh Market, Groupon, Guess, 3M, Rio Tinto, Vertex, Williams, Xerox and more.

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