Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: CIT, CyberArk, Kinder Morgan, Whole Foods, Exxon Mobil, DuPont and More

Investing

Published: August 14, 2015 8:35 am

Stocks were indicated higher in the wee-hours of futures trading but have since gone marginally in the red. The markets have sold off, and then seen some attempted recoveries this week. The trend that has been in place for almost four years now is that investors have lined up and bought every stock market sell-off. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning to find new trading and investing ideas for its readers. Some analyst calls cover stocks to buy, and some cover stocks to sell or avoid.

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

CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) was started as Neutral with a $50 price target (versus a $46.44 close) at Goldman Sachs. CIT has a consensus target price of $51.12 and a 52-week trading range of $43.21 to $49.98.

CyberArk Software Ltd. (NASDAQ: CYBR) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo. CyberArk closed at $58.06. It has a consensus price target of $63.55 and a 52-week range of $22.12 to $76.35.

Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) was already at Buy at Goldman Sachs, but the firm raised it to its prized Conviction Buy List and gave it a $48 price target. Kinder Morgan closed at $33.14 and has a consensus price target of $46.31 and a 52-week range of $31.09 to $44.71.

Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) was started with a Sell rating, and it was assigned a $29 price target (versus a $33.72 close), at Pivotal Research. Whole Foods now has a consensus price target of $39.25, after all the other capitulation downgrades, and a 52-week range of $33.44 to $57.57.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) was reiterated as Hold at Argus. The firm remains cautious, due to the uncertainty in oil prices. Exxon closed at $78.65. It has a consensus target price of $90.00 and a 52-week range of $76.33 to $100.31.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (NYSE: DD) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and was given a $60 price target (versus a $53.03 close) at JPMorgan.

ALSO READ: 5 Top BioPharma Stocks That May Now Be Bargains

Other top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from this Friday were seen as follows:

Aaron’s Inc. (NYSE: AAN) was raised to Buy from Hold with a price target of $47 (versus a $37.17 close) at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Alliance Data Systems Corp. (NYSE: ADS) was raised to Overweight from Neutral and was given a $328 price target (versus a $268.92 close) at JPMorgan.

Aramark Corp. (NYSE: ARMK) was started as Outperform with a $37.00 price target (versus a $32.07 close) at Credit Suisse.

CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight and the price target was raised to $71.00 from $64.00 (versus a $63.22 close) at Barclays.

Crescent Point Energy Corp. (NYSE: CPG) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.

ALSO READ: Why AT&T Shares Are Worth $40 or More

Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FANG) was started as Overweight with a $91 price target (versus a $71.67 close) at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Eldorado Gold Corp. (NYSE: EGO) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets.

Gastar Exploration Ltd. (NYSE: GST) was started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

ICON PLC (NASDAQ: ICLR) was started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS.

Ophthotech Corp. (NASDAQ: OPHT) was started as Outperform with a $95 price target (versus a $50.81 close) at Oppenheimer.

PAREXEL International Corp. (NASDAQ: PRXL) was started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

PRA Health Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: PRAH) was started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc. (NYSE: Q) was started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

ALSO READ: Are Alibaba Analysts Staying Too Positive?

Citigroup has also lowered its oil price expectations. The firm sees Brent Sea crude now averaging $54 in 2015 and $53 in 2016, down from $58 and $63 respectively. The group even had a bear market case with a 30% probability in the low $30s.

In case you missed out on Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Alibaba, Baker Hughes, GoPro, Merck, Microsoft, Yahoo and over a dozen more.

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