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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: BHP Billiton, Bojangles, Intel, Lululemon, Palo Alto Networks, Zions and More
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Stocks were indicated lower on Tuesday. The one trend that has held up over nearly the past four years is that investors buy every single pullback. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning of the week to find new trading and investing ideas for its readers. Some analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or avoid.
These are Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.
BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank. While the target prices were based on overseas pricing, the implied upside was still more than 20% after the price target cut.
Bojangles’ Inc. (NASDAQ: BOJA) was given mixed analyst coverage into its quiet period expiration. The restaurant chain was started as Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Piper Jaffray started it as Buy, and William Blair started it as Outperform. Goldman Sachs started it as Neutral, while Barclays initiated coverage as Equal Weight. Wells Fargo assigned a Market Perform rating. Bank of America Merrill Lynch and SunTrust Robinson Humphreys also both started coverage as Neutral.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) was reiterated Buy with a $48 price target at Jefferies, a call on the heels of the Altera buyout news saying that data center profits will rise. Credit Suisse reiterated its Outperform rating and $40 price target. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Intel to Market Perform from Outperform with a $33 price target. Canaccord Genuity maintained its Buy rating and $39 price target.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was reiterated as Outperform with a $70 price target at Oppenheimer. The call had some minor caution ahead of next week’s earnings, but it remains one of Oppenheimer’s favorite long-term stories in retail/apparel.
Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) was started as Buy with a price target of $200 (versus a $170.50 close) at Guggenheim. Just last week we showed how other analysts already covering Palo Alto were chasing the shares higher.
ALSO READ: 5 Analyst Stocks With 50% to 100% Upside Targets
Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ: ZION) was raised to Buy from Hold at Evercore ISI. CLSA also raised the rating to Buy from Underperform. Zions shares were last seen up 6% at $30.40 after announcing its restructuring and positive operating leverage initiative.
Other key analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen this Tuesday were as follows:
Ctrip.com International Ltd. (NASDAQ: CTRP) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel.
Gold Fields Ltd. (NYSE: GFI) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.
Gulfport Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: GPOR) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $67 from $66 (versus a $43.67 close) at Credit Suisse. The firm noted that it is tipping the scale to the dry Utica, with higher earnings expectations ahead.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co. (NASDAQ: HMHC) was started as Outperform with a price target of $33.00 (versus a $26.60 close) at Oppenheimer.
Iron Mountain Inc. (NYSE: IRM) was downgraded to Underperform from Hold with a price target of $29.00 (versus a $36.83 close) at Jefferies.
ITC Holdings Corp. (NYSE: ITC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $36.00 (versus a $35.38 close) at UBS.
Post Holdings Inc. (NYSE: POST) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Proofpoint Inc. (NASDAQ: PFPT) was started as Buy with a $66 price target (versus a $58.82 close) at Guggenheim.
Workday Inc. (NYSE: WDAY) was started as Outperform with a $91 price target (versus a $79.09 close) at Bernstein.
ALSO READ: The 6 Stocks Punishing the Dow in 2015
Vical Inc. (NASDAQ: VICL) was started as Buy with a $4.65 price target (versus a $0.88 close) at Roth Capital. Shares were indicated up 13% at $1.00 on the news, but readers should know that Vical has a very battered history with many disappointments.
Youku Tudou Inc. (NYSE: YOKU) was maintained as Neutral at Merrill Lynch, but the price objective was raised to $27.80 from $23.20, noting that the market value reflecting more control of content costs.
In case you missed Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Ambev, CTI BioPharma, Duke, Humana, Occidental Petroleum, Yelp and over a dozen other companies.
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