Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Abbvie, Amazon, Cliffs Natural, Corning, Dynegy, Joy Global, Stanley Black & Decker and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: June 10, 2016 9:05 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 6:58 am

Stocks were indicated handily lower as bond yields are hitting record low in  Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan as worries of more global slowing are rubbing off to where the Federal Reserve may be unable to raise interest rates. Next week’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting is not expected to bring a rate hike either way.

Investors have shown that they are more than willing to buy the stock market on dips, but it’s impossible to ignore that the S&P 500 is valued at a premium now of just under 18 times expected 2016 earnings per share.

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 Friday morning:

Abbvie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform and the price target was cut to $66 from $70 (versus a $60.75 prior close) at BMO Capital Markets. It has a consensus analyst price target of $70.22 and a 52-week trading range of $45.45 to $71.60.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was started as Outperform at William Blair. The firm sees continued growth of Amazon Web Services driving the company above and beyond. Shares closed most recently at $727.75, and the consensus price target is $800.92. The 52-week range is $422.64 to $731.50.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $7.50 price target (versus a $5.10 close). Its consensus price target is $3.38, and it has a 52-week range of $1.20 to $5.83.

Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) was downgraded to Sell from Hold with a $14.50 price target (versus a $21.03 close) at Drexel Hamilton. The consensus analyst target is $20.80, and the 52-week range is $15.42 to $21.30.

Dynegy Inc. (NYSE: DYN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup. The stock closed at $20.74, and it has a consensus price target of $24.31 and a 52-week range of $7.20 to $34.23.

Joy Global Inc. (NYSE: JOY) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and the price target was raised to $25 from $14 (versus a $22.08 close) at FBR Capital Markets. The consensus price target is $20.18. The 52-week range is $8.35 to $39.50.

Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (NYSE: SWK) was started with a Neutral rating and was given a price target of $120 (versus a $114.37 close) at Goldman Sachs. The consensus price target is $120.31, and the 52-week range is $88.72 to $115.15.

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

• AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) was reiterated as Hold but the price target was from $4.25 to $5.00 at Jefferies. Shares closed down 5.6% at $5.05 on Friday, and now they are indicated down about 2% at $4.95. The consensus target price is $4.42. The 52-week range is $1.64 to $5.50.
• ARRIS Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRS, $24.05) was assumed with a Buy rating in new coverage, but the old target of $40 from the prior team dropped to $31 (versus a $24.05 close).
• Carbonite Inc. (NASDAQ: CARB) was started with a Buy rating and given a $15 price target (versus a $9.37 close) at B. Riley.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Chesapeake Energy, Pandora Media, Qualcomm, Restoration Hardware, Skyworks Solutions, Southern Copper, SolarCity and over a dozen more.

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

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