Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Akamai, Carnival, Chevron, Pollo Loco, Ford, F5, Lululemon, Starbucks and More

Investing

Published: January 5, 2015 8:20 am

Stocks were indicated lower on Monday as most investors and market participants were returning to work from the holidays. The one trend that could be counted on in 2014 was that investors proved over and over that they would buy stocks on weakness that offer value or that have been overlooked by the market. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning to find new investment and trading ideas for its readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

Monday’s weakness is being tied to weakness in Europe, and the euro is nearing a decade low. These are this Monday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at Pacific Crest.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

El Pollo Loco Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LOCO) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $34 price target (versus a $20.26 close) at Baird.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at William Blair.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Janney Capital Markets.

ALSO READ: Apple’s First Analyst Price Target Hike of 2015

Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades on Monday were as follows:

Becton Dickinson and Co. (NYSE: BDX) was raised to Strong Buy from Market Perform at Raymond James.

Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $180 price target (versus a $178.64 close) at Baird.

Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.

Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: CCE) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised to $64 from $55 (versus a $52.67 close) at Goldman Sachs.

ALSO READ: Insider Buying Remained Strong Into Year-End

Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Janney Capital Markets.

F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) was raised to Outperform from Perform with a $160 price target (versus a $130.33 close) at Oppenheimer.

La Quinta Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LQ) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein.

Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) was started as Buy with a $16 price target (versus a $10.94 close) at Roth Capital.

Potbelly Corp. (NASDAQ: PBPB) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $17 price target (versus a $13.16 close) at Baird.

TreeHouse Foods Inc. (NYSE: THS) was raised to Buy from Underperform at Merrill Lynch.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $55 price target (versus a $54.70 close) at Baird.

Xylem Inc. (NYSE: XYL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel.

ALSO READ: 5 Massive Upside Analyst Stock Picks for 2015

Also, here were the S&P 500 targets for 2015 from the major brokerage firms:

Barclays, 2,100
BMO, 2,250
Citigroup, 2,200
Credit Suisse, 2,200
Deutsche Bank, 2,150
Goldman Sachs, 2,100
J.P. Morgan, 2,250
Merrill Lynch, 2,200
Morgan Stanley, 2,275
Oppenheimer, 2,311
RBC, 2,325
UBS, 2,225
Wells Fargo, 2,222

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