Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Anadarko, CSC, DuPont, First Solar, Halliburton, Mattel, Priceline, Starbucks and Many More

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Stocks were indicated lower again on Tuesday after a major sell-off on the first trading day of the year. While a drop Monday of up to 400 points in the Dow at one point is being followed up with nearly a 100-point drop on Tuesday, the reality is that the trend that has prevailed for over four years now is that investors have bought up the pullbacks.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning to find new investing and trading ideas for its readers. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

These are the top analyst calls for Tuesday, January 5, 2016.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup. Shares closed Monday at $49.13. The consensus analyst price target is close to $78.00, and the 52-week trading range is $44.50 to $95.94.

Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE: CSC) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays, and the firm cut its price target to $35. The stock was last seen close to $31.39, with a consensus price target of $38.63 and a 52-week range of $24.77 to $33.66.

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup. DuPont closed most recently at $63.07, and it has a consensus price target of $72.07 and a 52-week range of $47.11 to $76.59.


First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, with a $100 price target (versus a $66.72 prior close). First Solar was indicated up 4% at $69.60 early Tuesday. Its consensus target was about $67.50 and its 52-week range is $39.18 to $67.80.

Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight with a $40 price target at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Halliburton closed at $34.48, has a consensus target of $46.26 and has a 52-week range of $30.93 to $50.20.

Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) was reiterated as Buy at Jefferies, and the firm’s price target was raised to $30 from $27 (versus a $27.43 close). Jefferies sees the downside priced into Mattel after conducting its dividend analysis showing that the payout is now twice its target.

Priceline Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James, and the firm lowered its price target to $1,350 from $1,550 (versus a $1,245.36 close). The consensus target is almost $1,500, and the 52-week range is $990.69 to $1476.52.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) was reiterated as Buy at Jefferies, but the firm’s price target was raised to $70 from $66. It was also listed as a Goldman Sachs top stock for 2016 in recent analyst coverage. Starbucks closed down 2.9% at $58.26 on Monday, with a $68.09 consensus price target and a 52-week range of $39.28 to $64.00.

Of the many analyst calls seen on Tuesday, some of the other key analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations were in the following:
Acacia Research Corp. (NASDAQ: ACTG) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays, and the firm’s price target was slashed to $4 from $12 (versus a $4.18 close).

AptarGroup Inc. (NYSE: ATR) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at R.W. Baird.

Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight with a $63 price target at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $87 from $84 at Jefferies.

Banco Bilbao Viscaya Argentaria S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) was raised to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $38 price objective (versus a $23.29 close) at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.


Fresenius Medical Care A.G. (NYSE: FMS) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. (NYSE: GOL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank, and the price target was slashed to $1.00 from $2.00 (versus a $0.58 close).

Hawaiian Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: HA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank, and the price target was cut to $35 from $39. The parent of Hawaiian Air closed down over 7% at $32.81 on Monday.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) was reiterated as Hold at Jefferies, but the firm raised its price target to $110 from $100.

National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets.
Orbotech Ltd. (NASDAQ: ORBK) was started as Outperform and was assigned a $30.00 price target (versus a $21.85 close) at Cowen.

Prosperity Bancshares Inc. (NYSE: PB) was started as Underweight and was assigned a $49 price target (versus a $46.55 close) at JPMorgan.

Reinsurance Group of America Inc. (NYSE: RGA) was started as Buy with a $99 price target (versus an $83.60 close) at Deutsche Bank.

Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: RJET) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank and the price target was cut to $4.00 from $8.00 (versus a $3.62 close).

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $107 price target (versus a $98.14 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK) was maintained as Hold at Jefferies, but the high-flying hamburger chain’s price target was slashed to $40 from $60 in the call.


Silgan Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SLGN) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at R.W. Baird.

SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SEDG) was raised to the prized Conviction Buy list at Goldman Sachs after already having had a Buy rating, and the firm raised its price target to $41 from $32 (versus a $28.00 close).

SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs, but the firm did raise its price target to $35 from $33 (versus a $30.36 close and a $36.51 consensus target). SunPower has a 52-week range of $18.25 to $35.11.

Total System Services Inc. (NYSE: TSS) was raised to Neutral from Underperform with a $50 price target (versus a $48.24 close) at Credit Suisse.

Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

In case you missed Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Amazon.com, Chesapeake Energy, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Deere, Delphi Automotive, Lululemon Athletica, Pandora Media, McDonald’s, Atlassian and over a dozen more companies.

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