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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Lululemon, Tesla, Twitter, Disney, Whiting and More

Stocks were indicated higher on Monday morning, despite weak manufacturing data from China. Investors have bought every single pullback for what is now approaching four years. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of research reports from analysts each day of the week to find new trading and investment ideas for its readers. Some of these 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.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was started as Outperform with a $77 price target at RBC Capital Markets. The consensus price target is almost $67, and the yoga-themed retailer and apparel maker has a 52-week range of $36.26 to $70.00. Be advised that this is currently the highest price target, as the prior high from other analysts was $70.

Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was reiterated as Outperform with a $290 price target at Credit Suisse. The comments were very positive around the storage pricing bringing a compelling takeaway. The firm does not expect revenue or earnings to see material changes near term, but the team there sees the value of what Tesla has accomplished over the past six months being underappreciated.

Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) was raised to Hold from Sell at Stifel, now that much of the downside expected has been seen. This was on the heels of a major post-earnings sell-off and after other firms downgraded Twitter. Shares were indicated up about 1% at $38.25 in early trading on Monday, versus a 52-week range of $29.51 to $55.99. Are social media stocks now grossly oversold?

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was reiterated Outperform and the price target was raised to $120 from $110 at RBC Capital Markets. This is just a day ahead of Disney’s earnings report.

Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $48 (versus a $37.68 close) at Morgan Stanley. Whiting also received positive coverage from other analysts late last week as well.

ALSO READ: 13 Analysts Stocks Under $10 With Massive Upside Targets

Dow futures were up 66 points, followed by S&P 500 futures being up more than five points in early trading indications. The 10-year Treasury yield was indicated at almost 2.12% as well, what appears to be the highest yield again in almost two months.

Other key analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations were seen in the following companies:

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) was started as Underperform with a $17 price target at RBC Capital Markets.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) was started as Outperform with a $20 price target at RBC Capital Markets.

Buckeye Partners L.P. (NYSE: BPL) was raised to Buy from Hold at Stifel.

California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Janney Capital Markets.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) was reiterated as Buy with a $44 price target at Argus. This was also featured in our oil and gas stocks analysts want you to buy with positive analyst coverage this weekend.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) was started as Sector Perform with a $45 price target at RBC Capital Markets.

LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) was raised to Buy from Hold with price target of $280 (versus a $205.21 close after an 18% drop after earnings) at Argus.

Madison Square Garden Co. (NASDAQ: MSG) was raised to Buy from Hold with a price target of $100 (versus an $83 close) at Stifel.

ALSO READ: 5 Oil and Gas Stocks Analysts Want You to Buy Now

Midcoast Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: MEP) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

Newpark Resources Inc. (NYSE: NR) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and the price target was cut to $10 from $11 at Credit Suisse.

Olympic Steel Inc. (NASDAQ: ZEUS) was raised to Outperform from Underperform and the price target was raised to $17 from $12 (versus a $13.70 close) at Credit Suisse.

Pinnacle West Capital Co. (NYSE: PNW) was raised to Buy from Hold at Evercore ISI, and RBC Capital Markets raised its rating to Sector Perform from Underperform.

Quantum Corp. (NYSE: QTM) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and the price target was doubled up to $3 (versus a $2.03 close) at Northland Securities.

Rent-A-Center Inc. (NASDAQ: RCII) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.

SolarCity Corp. (NASDAQ: SCTY) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at R.W. Baird.

Standard Pacific Corp. (NYSE: SPF) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $10 price target (versus an $8.20 close) at Evercore ISI.

Urban Outfitters,Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) was started as Outperform with a $48 price target at RBC Capital Markets.

WisdomTree Investments Inc. (NASDAQ: WETF) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $25 price target (versus a $19.92 close) at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

XL Group PLC (NYSE: XL) was started as Overweight with a price target of $43 (versus a $36.99 close) at Barclays.

ALSO READ: Why Carl Icahn Wants a Larger Stock Buyback From Apple

In case you missed Friday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations, they included Baidu, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Cypress Semiconductor, Enterprise Products Partners, Juniper Networks, Kindred Healthcare, Ocwen Financial, Pacific Biosciences of California and over a dozen other stocks.

 

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