Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: JetBlue, Salesforce.com, Staples, Whiting, Yelp and More

Stocks were trading very marginally lower on Thursday, a day after the FOMC delayed the rate hike timing expectations. This week has seen more selling of stocks, but the trend that has held up for almost four years is that investors have bought every single pullback. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning in order to get new trading and investment ideas for its readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

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

JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the price target was raised to $27 from $21 (versus a $20.73 close) at Credit Suisse. The firm did note that its share performance gave it pause on upgrading the airline, but new fares are rolling out, and recent investments are driving improved returns.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) was downgraded to Outperform from Buy at CLSA after the valuation has the price out of line with fundamentals. S&P Capital IQ reiterated its Hold rating late on Wednesday after the buyout rumors drove the stock up, due to limited pool of buyers and the premium valuation being a potential block. Credit Suisse has an Outperform and $80 target, and it asks the interested party to stand up (noting that SAP likely is not one of the parties).

Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $20 price target (versus a $15.99 close) at Jefferies. The firm raised it and Office Depot, and others have discussed higher merger synergies.

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Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) was reiterated as Buy with a $52 price target (versus a $36.76 close) at Sterne Agee CRT. This is after it posted a lighter than expected loss.

Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets, and the price target was slashed to $50 from $82 (versus a $51.28 close). After earnings, the stock was indicated down over 16% at $42.70 in early trading. Other analyst calls seen were as follows:

  • Bank of America Merrill Lynch cut it to Neutral from Buy with a $55 price objective.
  • Credit Suisse maintained its Outperform rating but lowered the target to $70 from $71.
  • Needham maintained its buy rating but cut the target to $55 from $80.
  • Northland downgraded it to Underperform from Market Perform, and the price target was cut to $35 from $49.
  • Sterne Agee CRT cut it to Neutral from Buy.
  • Wunderlich maintained a Buy rating but lowered its target to $75 from $90.

Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades from this Thursday were as follows:

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) was started as Hold at BB&T Capital Markets.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) was downgraded to Underperform from Outperform at BNP Paribas.

Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $190 price target (versus a $160.25 close) at R.W. Baird.

Cinedigm Corp. (NASDAQ: CIDM) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie.

Equity One Inc. (NYSE: EQY) was raised to Neutral from Underperform with a price target of $27.50 (versus a $25.01 close) at Credit Suisse.

Esterline Technologies Corp. (NYSE: ESL) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $124 price target (versus a $115.11 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Exactech Inc. (NASDAQ: EXAC) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $25 price target (versus a $23.28 close) at Canaccord Genuity.

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Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) was raised to Neutral from Underweight with a $46 price target (versus a $45.54 close) at JPMorgan. Credit Suisse maintained its Neutral rating but lowered its target price to $54 from $51.

HomeStreet Inc. (NASDAQ: HMST) was started as Outperform with a $28 price target (versus a $20.74 close) at Keefe Bruyette Woods.

Mondelez International Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLZ) was raised to Buy from Hold with a price target of $43 at Deutsche Bank.

Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE: NBR) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $20 from $17 (versus a $16.47 close) at Argus.

Office Depot Inc. (NASDAQ: ODP) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $11.50 price target (versus a $9.15 close) at Jefferies.

Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. (NASDAQ: PSUN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at D.A. Davidson.

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Penske Automotive Group Inc. (NYSE: PAG) was downgraded to Sell from an already cautious Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs, and the price target was cut to $43 versus a 449.96 closing price and versus a $55.71 consensus analyst target price.

PCTEL Inc. (NASDAQ: PCTI) was raised to Buy from Neutral with an $11 price target (versus a $7.65 close) at B. Riley.

Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Spirit Airlines Inc. (NASDAQ: SAVE) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $85 price target (versus a $70.66 close) at Evercore ISI.

Stratasys Inc. (NASDAQ: SSYS) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

St. Jude Medical Inc. (NYSE: STJ) was removed from the US 1 list at Merrill Lynch, but this is simply due to the expiration of its 12-month term on the list.

Tempur Sealy International Inc. (NYSE: TPX) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $72 price objective (versus $61.38 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Verisk Analytics Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSK) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a price target of $80 (versus a $76.85 close) at BMO Capital Markets.

ALSO READ: 3 Top Oil Exploration and Production Stocks

In case you missed out on Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included AK Steel, National Oilwell Varco, Pfizer, Stratasys, Twitter, Wynn Resorts and over a dozen more companies.

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