Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: EMC, Herbalife, Micron, Petrobras, SanDisk and More

Investing

Published: June 15, 2015 8:55 am

Stocks were lower again on Monday, with the Greek debacle taking the blame again. If there has been one trend that has held firm, it is that investors have lined up to buy stocks on every pullback for well over three years now. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of research reports each morning of the week to find value and upside with new trading and investing ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while others are about stocks to sell or avoid.

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

EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $28.00 price target (versus a $27.07 close) at FBR Capital Markets. The consensus price target for EMC is $30.39 and the 52-week trading range is $25.07 to $30.92.

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) was dropped from coverage at Argus. The firm previously only had a Hold rating, because Herbalife shares do not trade on fundamentals as its stage of Bill Ackman fights and government investigations carry on. Argus did say that after the company raised guidance that Herbalife shares appear attractively valued, but the low multiples reflect the uncertainty around legal issues.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a price target of $21.00 (versus a $25.13 close) at Morgan Stanley. Its consensus price target was north of $37 prior to the impact of this call.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $10.50 price target (versus a $9.10 close) at JPMorgan.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley. The firm cut to the price target to $75 from $80 in the call, versus a $66.10 close and a $69.32 consensus analyst price target.

ALSO READ: 6 Analyst Stocks Called to Rise 50% to 100%

These are additional analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday morning:

Alleghany Corp. (NYSE: Y) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Janney Capital Markets. The firm’s sum-of-the-parts is roughly $540 per share. versus roughly $480 now.

BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) was raised to Hold from Reduce at HSBC Securities.

Black Knight Financial Services,Inc. (NYSE: BKFS) was started as Overweight with a $33.00 price target (versus a $28.21 close) at Piper Jaffray.

Community Healthcare Trust Inc. (NYSE: CHCT) was started as Buy at Janney Capital Markets, with a fair value estimate of $20.00, versus a $19.04 close. This implies roughly 15% upside when considering its 8.0% dividend yield.

Crown Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CCK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $59.00 (versus a $55.88 close) at Goldman Sachs. The consensus price target is $59.25 as well.

CNOOC Ltd. (NYSE: CEO) was raised to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies.

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Diageo PLC (NYSE: DEO) was raised to Outperform from Underperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: IDRA) was started as Overweight with a $6.00 price target (versus a $3.57 close) at JPMorgan.

Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $29.00 price target (versus a $24.14 close) at Needham.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: LGND) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $94.00 price target (versus a $93.93 close) at Deutsche Bank.

LRR Energy L.P. (NYSE: LRE) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $9.00 price target (versus a $7.69 close).

Mattress Firm Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: MFRM) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Wedbush.

ORBCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ: ORBC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $9.00 price target (versus a $7.09 close) at Northland Securities.

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI) was started as Buy with a $31.00 price target (versus a $21.74 close) at Ladenburg Thalmann.

Select Comfort Corp. (NASDAQ: SCSS) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Wedbush.

Sunoco L.P. (NYSE: SUN) was started as Buy with a $55 price target (versus a $45.28 close) at Jefferies.

Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. (NASDAQ: FOXA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a price target of $35.00 (versus a $32.70 close) at Topeka Capital Markets.

Teradata Corp. (NYSE: TDC) was downgraded to Market Underperform from Market Perform with a $30.00 price target (versus a $38.57 close) at JMP Securities.

ALSO READ: Merrill Lynch’s 4 Stocks to Buy That Are Breaking Out

In case you missed out on Friday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations, they included Citrix Systems, Danaher, Host Hotels, Keurig Green Mountain and Micron Technology, AECOM and over a dozen more companies.

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