Stocks held their gains on Thursday and futures were indicated higher overnight, but they have since softened and gone in the red. Investors keep buying many aspects of the dips, a trend that is now four years in the making, despite this sell-off having been worse than the formal 10% correction.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day to find new trading and investing ideas for its readers. Some analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid. These are this Friday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations.

BankUnited Inc. (NYSE: BKU) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and the price objective was set at $42.00. BankUnited closed at $35.95 Thursday, has a consensus target price of $39.62 and has a 52-week trading range of $26.69 to $37.92. The firm says that BankUnited has a compelling risk/reward story, is a high-growth bank, has no energy exposure and has limited risk from lower rates.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) has an analyst horse race taking place. BP was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs, while it was also downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies. Its American depositary shares (ADSs) closed at $31.21 on Thursday, and it has a 52-week range of $30.53 to $46.91.

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Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $86.00 (versus a $75.66 prior close) at JPMorgan. Chevron has a consensus price target that is still somehow all the way up at $99.00 or so, and it has a 52-week trading range of $69.58 to $125.70.

Diageo PLC (NYSE: DEO) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at BNP Paribas. The firm believes the worst is over, so to speak. Diageo closed at $107.16 on Thursday in New York trading, and it has a 52-week trading range of $100.59 to $124.32.

D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI) was reinstated as Buy at Merrill Lynch, with a $36.00 price objective. It closed at $30.78, has a consensus price target of $31.00 and has a 52-week range of $19.29 to $32.37.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and has a $69.00 price target at R.W. Baird. Lululemon closed down 16% at $53.54 on Thursday, with a consensus analyst target price of almost $67.00 and a 52-week trading range of $37.86 to $70.00.

Motorola Solutions Inc. (NYSE: MSI) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo. Motorola Solutions closed at $68.75. It has a consensus target lower than the share price of $61.67, and it has a 52-week range of $56.40 to $70.26.

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch. Petrobras ADSs closed down 4.7% at $4.85 in New York on Thursday, within a 52-week trading range of $4.68 to $18.09. Merrill Lynch expects that deterioration in key underlying macro fundamentals ahead could slow its restructuring program, while they prefer the non-voting shares given more positive dividend expectations.

Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE: RIO) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS. Rio Tinto’s ADSs closed at $36.38 on Thursday, and it has a 52-week range of $33.25 to $56.82.

Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK) was started as Market Perform at Cowen, although it was given a price target down at $42.00, versus a prior $48.56 close. Shake Shack has a $1.75 billion market cap, a $46.50 consensus analyst target price and a 52-week range of $38.64 to $96.75.

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Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) was reinstated as Buy with a $46.00 price objective at Merrill Lynch. The largest luxury homebuilder was said to have high competitive barriers, attractive positions in its demo-markets, and margin upside.

Total S.A. (NYSE: TOT) was raised to the prized Conviction Buy list from a prior Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs. Its ADSs closed at $45.13 on Thursday, against a 52-week range of $40.93 to $65.42.

Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) was started as Neutral with a $100.00 price target (versus a $96.17 close) at B. Riley. Despite the note on valuation here, Under Armour shares are still only about 5% shy of their 52-week and all-time highs.

Goldman Sachs lowered its forecast for oil, cut the rating on many key master limited partnerships (MLPs). It said that the storage nearing capacity and oversupply pose a risk to the point that could even send oil into the $20s.

In case you missed Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Apple, Ban of America, BP, First Solar, Fitbit, Seagate Technology, SunEdison, Western Digital and over a dozen more companies. Other key analyst calls were as follows:

• How analysts rate Palo Alto Networks after earnings.
• Three top Cowen telecom stock picks to buy now.
• Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, including Celgene, Ciena, Goldman Sachs, MannKind, Newfield Exploration, Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Yingli Green Energy and over a dozen more.
• Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, including Amgen, Dow Chemical, Fitbit, Office Depot, SanDisk, Wells Fargo, Yum! Brands and over a dozen more.
• Oppenheimer has six top alternative energy picks for 2016

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