Stocks were taking a breather on Thursday after hitting new highs earlier in the week. Many investors still want upside, but they have decided to look for value and unique stock picks with catalysts rather than just relying on a tired and frothy bull market. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of brokerage analyst reports each morning to find new research-driven ideas for our readers. Some of the reports cover stocks to buy, and some cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

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

Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James

American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) was started Outperform at RBC Capital

Antero Resources Corp. (NYSE: AR) was started as Buy with a $75 price target (versus a $60.40 close) at Canaccord Genuity.

Container Store Group Inc. (NYSE: TCS) was started as Hold at BB&T, despite the recent weakness seen in the shares after the company warned on earnings.

Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FANG) was reinstated as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

ALSO READ: The Russia Crash Back On: Bears Loving Putin

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) was maintained as Buy after earnings, but the price target was cut to $62 from $65 due to mixed results on low expectations, at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Canaccord Genuity cut its target to $57 from $60.

EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) was started as Buy and was given a 12-month price target of $135 (versus a $117.10 close) at Argus. The firm expected it to outperform ahead based on developing its high-quality liquids-rich asset base.

Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) was started as Buy and was assigned a target price of $88 (versus a $75.14 close) at Argus. Despite softness in retail and consumer products, the firm likes the company’s emphasis on affluent consumers and high-margin products.

The Fresh Market Inc. (NASDAQ: TFM) was called the cheapest way to play the healthy living trend by Credit Suisse, yet the firm started coverage on it with an Underperform rating and a $29 price target (versus a $31.77 close).

Gastar Exploration Inc. (NYSEMKT: GST) was started as Buy with a $12 price target (versus a $8.06 close) at Canaccord Genuity, with the comment that there is more here than meets the eye.

ALSO READ: 4 Top Biotechs Expected to Beat Earnings Expectations

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) was started as Buy with a $215 price target (versus a $171.09 close) at Citigroup.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was pumped in Barron’s in a Wednesday post-earnings report. The publication wrote:

A strong quarter and bullish forecast are propelling shares to a decade high. Time to sell? Not with this valuation and yield. … Conventional wisdom holds that tablets are cannibalizing computer sales. But have reports of the PC’s death been greatly exaggerated? The answer appears to be yes.

International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs. Meanwhile, it was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.

PetSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform with a $66 price target at RBC Capital Markets. This is after Merrill Lynch recently warned that the company’s stock is not trading at all in line with its fundamentals due to buyout hopes.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim, and it was raised to Buy from Neutral at Janney Capital Markets. Merrill Lynch has decided to move from a Neutral rating to dropped coverage. Argus is raising its target to $100 on a deal likelihood.

ALSO READ: 7 Alternative Energy Stocks With Massive Upside Potential — Updated

Other analyst calls of interest were as follows:

• Mallinckrodt PLC (NYSE: MNK) was started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
• Pier 1 Imports Inc. (NYSE: PIR) was started as Buy (versus $15.43 close) at Nomura.
• Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC) was started as Buy with a $107 price target at Canaccord Genuity.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO) was started as Buy at Citigroup.
• Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM) was started as Buy at Nomura.

In case you missed Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included shares of Apple, Intel, Nationstar, IMAX, Diageo and many more. J.P. Morgan also gave its top gold stocks to buy, with the driver being earnings surprises

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.