Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Chesapeake Energy, Pandora, Qualcomm, Restoration Hardware, Skyworks, Southern Copper, SolarCity and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: June 9, 2016 8:55 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 7:02 am

Stocks were looking for direction on Thursday. Investors have shown that they are more than willing to buy the stock market on dips. Still, S&P is showing that the S&P 500 now trades at a premium valuation of 18 times expected 2016 earnings.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our aim is to dig up new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and other reports feature stocks to sell or avoid.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday morning:

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was downgraded to Underperform from Sector Perform with a $5 price target (versus a $4.97 prior close) at RBC Capital Markets. It has a consensus analyst price target of $4.56 and a 52-week trading range of $1.50 to $12.95.

Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $16 price target (versus an $11.81 close) at Axiom Capital. The consensus price target is $13.70. The 52-week range is $7.10 to $22.60.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Brean Capital. That effectively removes any upside price target. Qualcomm closed at $54.94 and has a consensus analyst target of $57.18 and a 52-week range of $42.24 to $67.81.

Restoration Hardware Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: RH) was last seen down almost 20% at $28.96 after weak earnings and guidance on a net basis. It was downgraded to Market Perform from Strong Buy at Raymond James. It was also downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS and cut to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Skyworks Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: SWKS) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup. Shares were last seen indicated down almost 3% at $66.45, with a consensus target price of $84.43 and a 52-week range of $54.50 to $112.88.

Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE: SCCO) was started with a Neutral rating and was given a $27 price target (versus a $26.82 close) at Goldman Sachs. The consensus price target is $28.81, and the 52-week range is $21.55 to $31.35.

SolarCity Corp. (NASDAQ: SCTY) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $37 price target (versus a $23.07 close) at Robert W. Baird. It has a consensus price target of $29.47 and a 52-week range of $16.31 to $61.72.

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Other top analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen in the following:

Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) was downgraded to Sell from Underperform at CLSA.

Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie.

Credit Suisse Group A.G. (NYSE: CS) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. (NYSE: CFR) was raised to Hold from Sell and the price target was raised to $67 from $52 (versus a $67.15 close) at Evercore ISI.

Deutsche Bank A.G. (NYSE: DB) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.

Five9 Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVN) was started with a Buy rating and was given a $16 price target (versus a $12.01 close) at Craig-Hallum.

Independent Bank Group Inc. (NASDAQ: IBTX) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $49 price target (versus a $38.98 close) at Evercore ISI.

Lance Inc. (NASDAQ: LNCE) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and the price target was raised to $40 from $36 (versus a $31.90 close) at BMO Capital Markets.

LSI Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: LYTS) was started with a Buy rating and was given a $14 price target (versus an $11.31 close) at Canaccord Genuity.

Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE: MUSA) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $82 from $76 (versus a $68.72 close) at Jefferies. It was added to the Franchise List of picks as well, with given robust merchandise margin expansion, cost savings set to accelerate, encouraging traffic patterns at Walmart, favorable economic backdrop and secular trends.

Prosperity Bancshares Inc. (NYSE: PB) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $60 price target (versus a $54.06 close) at Evercore ISI.

Qorvo Inc. (NASDAQ: QRVO) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Citigroup.

Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE: SPR) was raised to Neutral from Underperform and the price target was raised to $44 from $41 (versus a $45.66 close) at Buckingham Research.

U.S. Concrete Inc. (NASDAQ: USCR) was started with a Buy rating and was given an $80 price target (versus a $64.18 close) at D.A. Davidson.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen in AK Steel, Alphabet, Royal Dutch Shell, Sunoco Logistics, Terex, Verifone Systems, Williams Partners and over a dozen more.