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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Antares, Michael Kors, Palo Alto, Ralph Lauren, Chipotle, Ericsson, and More
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Stocks were indicated lower on Thursday, but stock sectors by and large seemed to have no clear direction ahead of the open. What keeps getting shown by the investor group is that they will buy stocks on every single pullback. This trend is now nearly four years old. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning to find new ideas for traders and investors. Some of these analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid.
These are this Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.
Antares Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: ATRS) was started with a Buy rating and was given a whopping $5.00 price target (versus a $2.15 close) at Jefferies. Antares has a 52-week range of $1.82 to $3.20, and it had only four analysts with price targets, ranging from $3.50 to $6.50.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $725 price target (versus a $612.49 close) at Miller Tabak.
Janus Capital Group Inc. (NYSE: JNS) was started as Outperform with a $20.00 to $22.00 valuation range (versus a $17.86 close) at Wells Fargo. The firm said that it has executed a remarkable turnaround, helped in part by fixed income, with earnings growth and a change in the fund manager’s money flows.
Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) was maintained as Neutral at Janney Capital Markets after the big post-earnings sell-off, but the firm’s fair value estimate of $52.00 is now over 10% above the $45.93 price. Piper Jaffray kept its Neutral rating but has lowered its price target to $47 from $64.
Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) was last seen flat roughly around $161 after earnings. Credit Suisse maintained its Outperform rating but raised its target price from $165 to $190. Wells Fargo reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its valuation range to $183 to $199 from a prior range of $174 to $181.
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Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised to $154 from $138 (versus a $128.26 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Additional analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen this Thursday were as follows:
Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT) was downgraded to Underperform from In-Line and the price target was cut to $4.00 from $6.00 (versus a $6.21 close) at Imperial Capital.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (NYSE: CNQ) was started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
Digital Ally Inc. (NASDAQ: DGLY) was started as Buy with a price target of $20 (versus a $14.59 close) at Roth Capital.
Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.
Ignite Restaurant Group Inc. (NASDAQ: IRG) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) was started as Neutral at Nomura.
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The Fresh Market Inc. (NASDAQ: TFM) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. (NYSE: MHR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was cut to $2 from $3 (versus a $1.91 close).
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) was started as Overweight with a price target of $85 (versus a $76.82 close) at JPMorgan.
Pier 1 Imports Inc. (NYSE: PIR) was started as Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald.
Sage Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SAGE) was started as Outperform with a $95 price target (versus a $69.65 close) at Cowen.
Semtech Corp. (NASDAQ: SMTC) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at B. Riley.
Sterling Construction Co. (NASDAQ: STRL) was started as Buy and given a price target of $6.00 (versus a $3.72 close) at Maxim Group.
United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) was started as Neutral at Nomura.
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In case you missed out on Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Ambarella, eBay, Rite Aid, TiVo, Yahoo, Valero Energy, Virtu Financial and over a dozen more companies.
In addition, HSBC cut China’s GDP forecast for 2015 to 7.1% from 7.3%.
Credit Suisse lowered earnings estimates for broad U.S. airlines on PRASM, fuel and lower multiples.
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