Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Calpine, LendingClub, Rocket Fuel, Symantec, Verizon and More

Investing

Published: December 17, 2014 8:35 am

Stocks were indicated higher on Wednesday as investors continue to buy weakness and look for value amidst a weak international situation. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning to find new investing and trading ideas for its readers. Some research reports cover stocks to buy, and others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

These are this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades from 24/7 Wall St.

Calpine Corp. (NYSE: CPN) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was maintained as Outperform, but the price target was cut to $22 from $30, at Oppenheimer.

Columbia Sportswear Co. (NASDAQ: COLM) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised to $52 from $41 (versus a $43.33 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Consolidated Edison Inc. (NYSE: ED) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

CVR Refining L.P. (NYSE: CVRR) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

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Dakota Plains Holdings Inc. (NYSEMKT: DAKP) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $2.75 from $2.50 at Canaccord Genuity.

PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

LendingClub Corp. (NYSE: LC) was started as Sell at the boutique Compass Point, but this firm was not one of its underwriters.

Navios Maritime Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: NAP) was started as Outperform with a $16 price target (versus a $13.22 close) at Credit Suisse.

Rocket Fuel Inc. (NASDAQ: FUEL) was started as Buy at Janney Capital Markets.

Sierra Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: SWIR) downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Stillwater Mining Co. (NYSE: SWC) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

SunCoke Energy Inc. (NYSE: SXC) was raised to Outperform from Neutral, but the price target was lowered to $22 from $26 (versus an $18.07 close), at Credit Suisse.

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Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at William Blair.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was cut to $48 from $55 (versus a $45.53 close) at Goldman Sachs.

In case you missed Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades from 24/7 Wall St., they were in shares of Autodesk, Crocs, GM, GrubHub, Microsoft, Nike, Rite Aid, SunPower and perhaps a dozen or so more stocks.

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