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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: 3D Systems, Devon Energy, Intel, Micron, Southwest Air, Southwestern Energy, Wells Fargo and More
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Stocks hit their 2016 highs this week, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is now almost challenging 18,000 again. Stock futures were looking lower on Friday ahead of economic reports. It seems that investors have reverted back to the trend of the prior four years of buying pullbacks.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and other reports cover stocks to sell or avoid.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen Friday morning:
3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) may have received a stellar upgrade from Bank of America Merrill Lynch on Thursday, but Citigroup has decided to slash the rating to Sell from an already unenthusiastic Neutral rating. 3D Systems was up 10% at $18.28 on Thursday, but was giving back 4%, down to $17.50, in early trading indications on Friday.
Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $40 from $30 (versus a $31.35 prior close) at Evercore ISI. It has a consensus analyst price target of $32.03 and a 52-week trading range of $18.07 to $70.48.
Micron Technology Inc. (NYSE: MU) was started as Buy with a $14 price target (versus a $10.40 close) at Brean Capital. Its consensus price target is $13.48, and it has a 52-week range of $9.31 to $29.78.
Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight and the price target was raised to $48 from $41 (versus a $46.71 close) at Barclays. The consensus price target is $54.50, and the 52-week range of is $31.36 to $51.34.
Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral with an $8 price target (versus a $10.75 close) at JPMorgan. The consensus price target is $8.64. The 52-week range is $5.00 to $29.61.
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral and its price target was cut to $44 from $47 (versus a $48.79 close) at Piper Jaffray. Argus reiterated its Buy rating and its $58 target price. Wells Fargo has a consensus price target of $55.45 and a 52-week range of $44.50 to $58.77.
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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen on Friday in the following:
Aircastle Ltd. (NYSE: AYR) was downgraded to Underweight from Overweight and the price target was cut to $22 from $28 (versus a $22.13 close) at Barclays.
Albemarle Corp. (NYSE: ALB) was reiterated as Buy at Jefferies, but the firm raised its price target to $75 from $65 (versus a $65.45 close). It has a consensus price target of $64.67 and a 52-week range of $41.37 to $66.93. The highest analyst target is just $2 higher at $77.
Allegiant Travel Co. (NASDAQ: ALGT) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight and the price target was cut to $188 from $205 (versus a $181.07 close) at Barclays.
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $55 price target (versus a $49.46 close) at JPMorgan.
Antero Resources Corp. (NYSE: AR) was raised to Neutral from Underweight and the price target was raised to $28 from $25 (versus $26.61 close) at JPMorgan.
Azure Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: AZUR) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Janney, with the firm saying its waiting for outside help. Shares closed at $1.25 (down 16%), in a 52-week range of $1.06 to $23.11.
Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral and the price target was cut to $1.50 from $2.00 (versus a $2.26 close) at Credit Suisse.
Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen. Earlier this week, Piper Jaffray raised its rating to Overweight.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (NYSE: HPE) was started as Outperform with a $21 price target at Oppenheimer. Shares were last seen at $17.50, within an $11.63 to $18.55 range over the past 52 weeks.
Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ: INFN) was raised to Neutral from Sell with a $16 price target (versus a $15.32 close) at Goldman Sachs.
JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
Pacwest Bancorp (NASDAQ: PACW) was reiterated as Outperform but the price target was cut to $48 from $50 (versus a $38.56 close) at FBR Capital Markets.
Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. (NYSE: BIN) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets.
Seagate Technology PLC (NYSE: STX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus, noting that the HDD market is deteriorating further.
Tahoe Resources Inc. (NYSE: TAHO) was reinstated as Buy with a $14.50 price objective (versus an $11.77 close) at Merrill Lynch. The rating is based on gold growth and rising free cash flow.
Vail Resort Inc. (NYSE: MTN) was reiterated as Buy with a fair value estimate of $150 (versus a $131.97 close) at Janney.
Westar Energy Inc. (NYSE: WR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus, but this downgrade is after a strong run-up in the stock on potential buyout interest. Trading at $50.36, it has a 52-week range of $33.88 to $52.82.
Waste Connections Inc. (NYSE: WCN) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets.
Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included 3D Systems, Apple, Applied Materials, Chipotle Mexican Grill, CSX, PepsiCo, Red Hat and over a dozen more.
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