Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades from Monday: AMAG, Nike, Cempra, Discovery, HCI Group and More

courtesy of Jon Ogg

Stocks were indicated lower on Monday, but this is expected to be a thin volume post-Christmas session. It seems like stocks want to follow oil lower, and the stock market is still fighting for a positive 2015. One trend that has endured for over four years now is that investors have bought every single market pullback.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for its readers. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and others cover stocks to sell or avoid. As a reminder, 14 strategists are calling for a positive, but mixed, S&P 500 performance in 2016.

These are the top analyst calls for Monday, December 28, 2015.

AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAG) was reiterated as Buy at Jefferies with a very high $70.00 price target (versus a $29.69 prior close). The firm updated its estimates and accounting for Makena-related contingent payments after discussions with management. That being said, no formal rating or target changes were made.

Cempra Inc. (NASDAQ: CEMP) was reiterated as Buy at Janney Capital Markets and its fair value target was $43.00 (versus a $30.65 close). The firm notes that a study expansion bodes well for a positive read for the treatment of urogenital gonorrhea.

Discovery Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA) was maintained as Buy at Topeka Capital Markets, but the firm trimmed its price target to $38 from $39.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was reiterated as Buy at Argus, and the firm raised its post-split price target up to $77.00 from $75.00 (versus a $63.18 close). Nike’s post-split trading range has been $45.35 to $68.19 over the past 52-weeks, and Thomson Reuters supposedly has a $72.56 adjusted consensus analyst price target (assuming all price targets have been adjusted).


Other key analyst calls were seen as follows:

Air Lease Corp. (NYSE: AL) was reiterated as Outperform at Credit Suisse, with a $45.00 price target (versus a $33.78 close). The firm sees it being positive that Air Lease has announced that it will sell 25 ATR aircraft.

Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) was maintained as Neutral at Piper Jaffray, but the price target was raised to $45.00 from $43.00 (versus a $42.31 close). Comerica has a consensus price target of $46.17 and a 52-week range of $39.52 to $53.45.

HCI Group Inc. (NYSE: HCI) was started as Overweight with a $43.00 price target (versus a $35.30 close) at Piper Jaffray.

Jefferies has a new view it has issued for Japan in 2016, moving the goalposts: 2016 will see a wider and open debate over the limits and efficacy of quantitative easing. With inflation barely visible and growth delicately balanced, the extent and limits of QE will be hotly discussed given that the Bank of Japan is currently acquiring 10% of the outstanding JGBS every year (equivalent to 1% of GDP). Moreover, nominal gross domestic product has been essentially flat over the year.

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