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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: American Water, Autodesk, Kraft Heinz, Palo Alto, Toyota, Vipshop and More

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Stocks were indicated to open higher on Friday morning, and it appears as though there will be another positive week for stocks. Maybe investors are migrating from selling every rally back to the more than four-year trend of buying the dips. Maybe.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each day. The goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for its readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from Friday, February 26, 2016.

American Water Works Co. Inc. (NYSE: AWK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy after the fair value estimate was achieved and then some. That estimate was $66 and the stock was last seen up over 2% at $68.05. If this sounds familiar, it’s because of a 24/7 Wall St. note about great defensive stocks reaching extremely high valuations. American Water works has a consensus analyst target down at $63.36 and a 52-week trading range of $48.36 to $68.49.

Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) was reiterated as Outperform but the price target was raised to $100 from $85 (versus a $49.42 prior close) at Credit Suisse. The call comes after Autodesk beat earnings but offered mixed guidance. What stands out here is that Credit Suisse already had the highest target price of analysts, so now it is even higher. Autodesk has a consensus target price of $61.22 and a 52-week range of $41.60 to $65.78.

Kraft Heinz Co. (NASDAQ: KHC) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. Shares closed up 2.7% at $74.96 before earnings, and then were indicated up over 5% at $79.00 afterward. Kraft Heinz is now a top holding of Warren Buffett, and it has a consensus analyst price of $90.29 and a post-merger range of $61.42 to $81.20.


Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, but the firm kept its $210 price objective. Palo Alto closed up 9.6% at $140.29 on Thursday before/after earnings dropped early, and shares were indicated up almost 7% more around $150.00 after another solid quarter and with the stock down about 30% from the peak. The consensus analyst target was $194.49 and the 52-week range is $111.09 to $200.55.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse. The firm sees little prospect of share price upside in Toyota, given its ongoing growth hiatus, despite having a view that Toyota remains positive regarding its proactive stance on shareholder returns. Toyota’s American depositary shares closed at $105.57. The consensus target price is $127.56 and the 52-week range is $102.54 to $145.80.

Vipshop Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: VIPS) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse. The stock closed down 10.7% at $11.33 on Thursday and was indicated up 25 at $11.57 on Friday, despite what was a mixed report on earnings and guidance. The consensus analyst target is $18.59. The 52-week trading range is $10.37 to $30.72.

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Other key analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday were in the following:
AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) was reiterated as Buy with a target price of $85.00 (versus a $56.20 close) at Argus.

Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHN) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at R.W. Baird.

Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AEGR) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $12 from $16 at Jefferies.

Editas Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ: EDIT) was started as Buy with a fair value estimate of $48.00 (versus a $23.22 close) at Janney Capital Markets. The firm thinks genome editing is here to stay and that first-mover advantage (with CRISPR) and strong management and scientific advisors set Editas up for success.

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) was raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.

Icahn Enterprises L.P. (NASDAQ: IEP) was maintained as Buy but the price target was slashed from $105 to $61 at Jefferies.

Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE: NFX) was raised to Buy from Neutral at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.


Patriot National Inc. (NYSE: PN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

PRA Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PRAA) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Janney Capital Markets after its reduced growth outlook. Janney also took its fair value estimate down to $31 from $47.

Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RH) was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James, but this after shares fell almost 26% to $38.49.

Southern Airlines Co. Ltd. (NYSE: ZNH) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

Southwestern Energy (NYSE: SWN) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Jefferies and the price target was cut to $4 from $11, with the firm noting depleting assets and mounting leverage.

Spirit Airlines Inc. (NASDAQ: SAVE) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.

Stantec Inc. (NYSE: STN) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.

Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE: TRGP) was raised to Neutral from Underperform and the price target was cut to $33 from $36 at Credit Suisse. Despite a lower target, the firm sees Targa as better positioned and with a better balance sheet than peers.

Tenaris S.A. (NYSE: TS) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.

U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SLCA) was raised to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies.

If you missed Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades, they included Bank of America, Encana, Energy Transfer Partners, Restoration Hardware, Salesforce.com, Transocean and a dozen or so more companies.

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