Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Boot Barn, Chevron, Priceline, SolarCity, Verizon and More

Photo of Jon C. Ogg
By Jon C. Ogg Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Stocks were indicated higher on Monday ahead of a shortened workweek. Despite new highs, investors keep proving that will buy stocks discounted by the market or when an overlooked story arises. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports from brokerage firms each morning on the hunt for new trading and investing ideas for its readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

These are this Monday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

Alamo Group Inc. (NYSE: ALG) was started as Overweight with a $58 price target (versus a $46.89 close) at Piper Jaffray.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC) was started as Buy with a $30 price target (versus a $25.03 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Boot Barn Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BOOT) was started as Overweight with a $23 price target (versus a $20.00 close) at Piper Jaffray. Jefferies started it as Buy with a $24 price target. Baird started as Outperform with a $23 price target. Wells Fargo started as Outperform with a $22 to $24 valuation range.

Cash America International Inc. (NYSE: CSH) was downgraded to Market Underperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy with a $140 price target (versus a $118.58 close) at Raymond James.

ALSO READ: Why Everyone Loves Intel Again, or Will in 2015

Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) was started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Fifth Street Asset Management Inc. (NASDAQ: FSAM) was started as Outperform with an $18 price target (versus a $14.76 close) at Credit Suisse. J.P. Morgan started it as Overweight with a $20 price target. Started as Neutral with an $18 price target at Goldman Sachs.

Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $100 price target (versus a $85.21 close) at Raymond James.

HomeAway Inc. (NASDAQ: AWAY) was started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Imperva Inc. (NYSE: IMPV) was started as Buy at Needham.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE: JEC) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral and the target price was cut to $40 from $46 (versus a $49.08 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Kate Spade & Co. (NYSE: KATE) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price objective was raised to $34 from $33 (versus a $30.22 close) at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform with a $105 price target (versus a $87.60 close) at Raymond James.

Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW) was started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Priceline Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) was started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

SolarCity Corp. (NASDAQ: SCTY) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with an $83 price target (versus a $55.05 close) at Baird.

ALSO READ: How MLP Funds and ETFs Will Treat Kinder Morgan After Merger

TripAdvisor Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) was started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform and the price target was cut to $42 from 44 at FBR Capital Markets.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Photo of Jon C. Ogg
About the Author Jon C. Ogg →

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618