Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alexion, Barrick Gold, Barclays, Coeur Mining, GW Pharma, SE, AGCO, HSBC, RBS and Many More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: June 27, 2016 8:44 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 6:20 am

Things might have felt bad on Friday’s post-Brexit surprise, but the Dow’s drop of 610 points, a drop of 3.4%, was mild compared to European markets where many of the key stocks were down 10% to 25%. Many economists and strategists are calling for added weakness and volatility in the days and weeks ahead as the European Union has to sort this mess out. Still, it is important to remember that U.S. investors have found every reason under the sun to buy their favorite after periods of weakness and into major sell-offs.

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

Investors might want to consider that volatility from outside shocks often creates uncertainty around ratings and price targets. Stocks were down again in the U.S. and U.K. bank stocks were down double-digit percentages on Monday again. That may bring up great buying opportunities for those who can stomach the pain, but the dust from a series of incidents rarely settles in a few days.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from this Monday morning:

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup. Alexion closed down over 8.5% at $112.99 on Friday and was indicated marginally lower on Monday. Alexion Pharma’s consensus analyst price target is $187.61 and it has a 52-week range of $110.56 to $208.88.

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) was already rated as Buy but was raised to the prized Conviction Buy list at Goldman Sachs. Its price target was raised to $27.00 from $23.00 as well, versus a $20.47 close. Barrick was also raised to Outperform at CIBC World Markets. Barrick Gold shares were indicated up 3.2%at$21.12 on Monday, versus a consensus analyst target price of $17.15 and versus a 52-week range of $5.91 to $21.40.

Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) was among the E.U. stocks down 10% to 25% on Friday, and its ADSs were down another 22% at $6.85 in New York trading on Monday. Barclays was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA Merrill Lynch, it was cut to Underperform at Jefferies and was cut to Neutral at BNP Paribas. Barclays had a consensus analyst price target of $13.96 and has a 52-week range of $8.13 to $18.05.

Coeur Mining, Inc. (NYSE: CDE) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James. Coeur closed at $9.95 on Friday and was indicated up another 1.7% at $10.12 on Monday. Coeur Mining has a consensus analyst price target of $8.36 and has a 52-week range of $1.62 to $10.22.

GW Pharmaceuticals PLC (NASDAQ: GWPH) was started with a Sell rating and was given a $40.00 price target (versus $83.31 close) at Janney. The firm simply said that it does not see any value here, even with good study data. GW Pharma shares were up almost 18% at 98.00 in early Monday trading. GW Pharma’s consensus analyst target was $152.43 and its 52-week range is $35.83 to $131.25.

Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE: SE) was started with an Outperform rating and was given a $39.00 price target (versus $34.37 close) at RBC Capital Markets. Spectra Energy has a consensus analyst price target of $32.57 and has a 52-week range of $21.43 to $35.07.

You can follow @Jonogg on Twitter if you choose to get daily research and analyst snapshots on your feed. Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades for Monday were in shares of the following companies:

AGCO Corporation (NYSE: AGCO) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

HealthSouth (NYSE: HLS) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE: HSBC) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at BNP Paribas.

IAMGOLD Corp. (NYSE: IAG) was raised to Sector Perform from Sector Underperform at CIBC world Markets.

Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $73.00 price target (versus $66.53 close) at Credit Suisse.

Randgold Resources Ltd. (NASDAQ: GOLD) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Qorvo, Inc. (NASDAQ: QRVO) was started as Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

ResMed Inc. (NYSE: RMD) was downgraded to Underperform from Hold at Needham & Co.

Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA Merrill Lynch. RBC Capital Markets cut its rating to Underperform from Outperform, and Jefferies cut RBS’s rating to Hold from Buy. Barclays lowered the RBS rating to Underweight from Equal Weight.

Skyworks Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: SWKS) was started as Underweight with a $61.00 price target (versus $61.61 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Analysts also have 7 stocks under $10 with massive upside projections.