Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Avis, BHP, CSX, Mobileye, Walmart, P&G and More

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By Jon C. Ogg Published
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Stocks were marginally higher on Thursday morning in hopes of European Central Bank quantitative easing. Investors have shown time and gain that they will buy stocks when they go on sale or when they see value. 24/7 Wall St. looks over dozens of analyst research reports each morning to find new trading and investing ideas for its readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and some cover stocks to sell or avoid. These are this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades from 24/7 Wall St.

Avago Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: AVGO) is up big after solid earnings and guidance. Canaccord Genuity reiterated its Buy rating and raised the price target to $122 from $97.

Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR) was started as Outperform with a $72 price target (versus a $59.81 close) at Credit Suisse.

BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) was started as Overweight at Barclays.

CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.

Energy Transfer Partners L.P. (NYSE: ETP) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.

Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INFI) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ) was started as Overweight with a $45 price target (versus a $40.44 close) at Barclays.

KKR & Co. L.P. (NYSE: KKR) was started as Overweight with a $26 price target (versus a $21.98 close) at Barclays.

ALSO READ: Good News on Kinder Morgan’s Dividend on Low Oil

Mobileye N.V. (NYSE: MBLY) was raised to Buy from Hold and given a $53 price target (versus a $41.81 close) at Deutsche Bank after having lost one-third of its value from the post-IPO peak.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE: RIO) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Merrill Lynch.

Thor Industries Inc. (NYSE: THO) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.

Tupperware Brands Corp. (NYSE: TUP) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS after its big run-up.

ALSO READ: The Best and Worst Run States in America

In case you missed Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they were in BP, Cypress Semiconductor, El Pollo Loco, CBOE, Halliburton, J.C. Penney, SanDisk and a dozen or so more.

In addition, 24/7 Wall St. is looking at the Dow laggards to see what could potentially turn them around in 2015. Here is what could make Exxon and Chevron the best performing DJIA stocks in 2015. Also, here is what could make IBM the best performing DJIA stock of 2015, or even make McDonald’s the best DJIA stock of 2015.

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.

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