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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Eli Lilly, Enphase, Lululemon, SodaStream, Yelp and More
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Stocks were lower on Thursday after weak overseas trading. Investors are braced for Friday’s key unemployment and payrolls report, and they are still looking for upside from their investment funds. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning, hunting for new investment and trading ideas for our readers. Some of the analyst calls cover stocks to buy, and others are about stocks to sell or stocks to avoid.
These are this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Wall Street firms.
AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.
Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $176 price target (versus a $145.17 close) at Sterne Agee. Keep in mind that this upgrade is on the heels of a 13% post-earnings drop.
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Bernstein.
Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at J.P. Morgan.
Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.
Enphase Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH) was started with an Outperform at Imperial Capital in a late-day call on Wednesday. This was downgraded to Hold at Deutsche Bank earlier this week, but the stock remains one of our top alternative energy stocks with massive upside potential.
Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.
Glu Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ: GLUU) was shown as having a strong second-quarter and strong guidance at Canaccord Genuity, with the firm raising the target to $8.00 from $5.50. Shares were lower in early Thursday indications by 9% at $6.29 on weak margin concerns.
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform and it was given a $12 price target (versus a $9.91 close) at RBC Capital Markets.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was started as Positive late on Wednesday at Susquehanna. The target price was listed as $49, versus a $39.45 close.
Open Text Corp. (NASDAQ: OTEX) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
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Sagent Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SGNT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Needham.
SLM Corp. (NYSE: SLM) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $10 price target (versus an $8.82 close) at Janney Capital Markets.
SodaStream International Ltd. (NASDAQ: SODA) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.
Tetra Tech Inc. (NASDAQ: TTEK) was down more than 7% after earnings. The water services and infrastructure services provider was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at RW Baird. Oppenheimer cut its target to $28 from $33.
United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight by Atlantic Equities.
United Microelectronics Corp. (NYSE: UMC) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at J.P. Morgan, and it was also downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup.
Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the price target was cut to $38 from $48 at J.P. Morgan. UBS cut its rating to Neutral from Buy. Canaccord Genuity maintained its Buy rating and $49 price target.
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Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP) had risen after earnings, but shares then slid and were indicated down almost 5% around $72 in early trading. The restaurant review and information site was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James. Oppenheimer raised its price target to $97 from $80 after earnings.
In case you missed Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Enbridge, Freescale Semiconductor, National Oilwell Varco, Twitter, Verizon, Windstream and a dozen more.
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