Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alcoa, GoPro, MetLife, Netflix, SUPERVALU, Disney, Williams, Yelp and Many More

Thinkstock

Stocks were up marginally after looking for direction for most of Thursday’s early bird indications, but this is after another big sell-off on Wednesday. The bears are getting bolder, and investors have been selling every rally so far in 2016. We still cannot ignore that investors have bought every market pullback for over four years now. Now that the markets have breached the 10% correction territory from the highs, will investors let fear or greed take over?

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. These are this Thursday’s top analyst calls.

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus. Alcoa closed most recently at $7.12 and has a consensus analyst price target of $10.77 and a 52-week trading range of $7.08 to $17.10. Alcoa was trading at $8.00 prior to earnings, and it was at $10.00 as recently as December 29.

GoPro Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO) may be getting crushed on weak numbers, but JPMorgan is sticking with its very recent Overweight rating. While the call remains positive on the surface, the firm slashed its price target to $21.00 from $45.00. GoPro shares were last seen down over 20% and were under $11.10.

MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET) was reiterated as Buy at Janney Capital Markets. The firm sees its breakup as bold and shareholder friendly, with an aim to de-risk and lower its cost of capital while boosting free cash flow. Janney’s valuation on MetLife per share value is $42 for OldCo and $9 for NewCo. While MetLife closed at $42.91, it has a consensus price target of $56.29 and a 52-week range of $40.97 to $58.23.


Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was started as Buy with a $150.00 price target at Drexel Hamilton, after shares closed at $106.56. Netflix has a consensus price target of $123.00 and a 52-week range of $45.84 to $133.27. Its highest price target is $160.00.

SUPERVALU Inc. (NYSE: SVU) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was cut to $6.00 from $8.00 (versus a $5.08 prior close) at Deutsche Bank. The consensus target price is $8.61, and the 52-week range is $4.95 to $12.00.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was started as Buy with a $117 price target (versus a $98.48 close) at Drexel Hamilton. Disney’s consensus price target is about $117 as well, and the 52-week range is $90.00 to $122.08. Disney’s 2016 bullish and bearish outlook calls for almost 14% upside just at the start of 2016.

Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $36.00 from $43.00 at Jefferies. The stock is down to $13.61 after a 17% drop on Wednesday, and this was at $25.70 on the last day of 2015. The consensus target price is still all the way up at $40.00 or so, and Williams has a 52-week range of $12.77 to $61.38.

Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $15.00 price target (versus a $22.07 close) at B. Riley. Yelp’s consensus target price is $31.67, and its 52-week range is $20.50 to $57.70.

Other key analysts upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Tuesday were in the following:
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $50.00 from $55.00 at Jefferies.

Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AEM) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

Atmel Corp. (NASDAQ: ATML) was maintained as Hold and the price target was set at $8.15 after Atmel negatively preannounced fourth-quarter results and said it now considers Microchip’s outstanding acquisition offer of $8.15 per share as superior to the prior one from Dialog Semiconductor.

Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) was maintained as Hold at Canaccord Genuity, but the price target was cut to $55.00 from $60.00.

Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FANG) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan, and the price target was cut to $56 from $60 (versus a $49.40 close).

Energy Transfer Equity L.P. (NYSE: ETE) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $19.00 from $23.00 at Jefferies.

F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $98 price target (versus a $94.00 close) at Barclays.

Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) was maintained as Hold at Jefferies, but the price target was cut to $14.00 from $15.00.

Kindred Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: KND) was maintained as Neutral but the price target was cut to $9.00 from $12.75 at Mizuho Securities.


Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $45.00 from $48.00 at Jefferies.

Rudolph Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: RTEC) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $15.00 price target (versus an $11.49 close) at Stifel.

Spirit Airlines Inc. (NASDAQ: SAVE) was started as Overweight with a $52 price target (versus a $36.53 close) at JPMorgan.

Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE: TRGP) was raised to Buy from Hold with a price target of $26.00 at Jefferies.

Targa Resources Partners L.P. (NYSE: NGLS) was raised to Buy from Hold with a price target of $16.00 at Jefferies.

Total S.A. (NYSE: TOT) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Vail Resort Inc. (NYSE: MTN) was maintained as Buy with a fair value estimate of $142.00 (versus a $121.77 close) at Janney Capital Markets. The firm noted an encouraging early season update from the company. Credit Suisse boosted its target to $140.00 from $135.00.

Virgin America Inc. (NASDAQ: VA) was started as Underweight with a $31 price target (versus a $30.42 close) at JPMorgan.

If you missed Wednesday’s top analyst calls, they included American Express, Cheniere Energy, Goldcorp, Microsoft, Nucor, Synchrony, Tyco International, Whiting Petroleum and over a dozen more companies.

If you want this in your Twitter feed, follow @jonogg for analyst and research alerts.

The Average American Is Losing Their Savings Every Day (Sponsor)

If you’re like many Americans and keep your money ‘safe’ in a checking or savings account, think again. The average yield on a savings account is a paltry .4% today, and inflation is much higher. Checking accounts are even worse.

Every day you don’t move to a high-yield savings account that beats inflation, you lose more and more value.

But there is good news. To win qualified customers, some accounts are paying 9-10x this national average. That’s an incredible way to keep your money safe, and get paid at the same time. Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other one time cash bonuses, and is FDIC insured.

Click here to see how much more you could be earning on your savings today. It takes just a few minutes and your money could be working for you.

 

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.