[cnxvideo id=”509258″ placement=”ros”]Stocks are very close to all-time highs and futures were indicated marginally higher on Wednesday morning. Investors have proven time after time that they will buy their favorite stocks in every market sell-off. Those same investors also remain on the hunt for new ideas to generate income or gains.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning of the week. The goal is to find new investing and trading ideas. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy. Other reports feature stocks to sell or to avoid.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday morning:
Clovis Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: CLVS) rose 27% to $23.03 after the FDA priority review of its cancer drug, with a formal response date of February 23, 2017. Credit Suisse maintained a Neutral rating and raised its target to $19 from $14, and Mizuho maintained a Neutral rating but its target was raised to $23 from $15. Janney maintained its Buy rating but raised its fair value estimate to $30 from $21.
Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs. It was downgraded by Raymond James earlier this week. Shares closed at $53.67 and were indicated down 3% at $51.98, and the consensus analyst target price is $47.20. The 52-week trading range is $30.93 to $56.19.
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Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) was maintained as Buy at Merrill Lynch, but it was also added to the US 1 list of its top ideas. The stock closed at $77.30, has a consensus price target of $87.65 and a 52-week range of $62.62 to $83.65.
NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) was raised to Neutral from Sell and the price target was raised to $32 from $26 (versus a $34.99 close) at Goldman Sachs. The consensus price target is $29.16, and the 52-week range is $20.66 to $35.26, and NetApp was one of the best seven earnings reports this summer.
On Deck Capital Inc. (NYSE: ONDK) was maintained as Buy with a $7 fair value estimate (versus a $6.12 close) at Janney. The call is talking the lender up after signing a new $100 million credit agreement. On Deck has a consensus price target of $8.45 and a 52-week range of $4.20 to $12.85.
Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD) was reiterated as Outperform at Credit Suisse, but the firm added Pioneer to its U.S. Focus List and Global Focus List. The stock closed at $182.25, has a consensus price target of $202.40 and a 52-week range of $103.50 to $186.33.
RSP Permian Inc. (NYSE: RSPP) was started as Outperform at Wells Fargo. Shares closed at $39.23, have a 52-week range of $16.74 to $40.74 and a consensus price target of $43.52.
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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen as follows:
Comtech Telecommunications Corp. (NASDAQ: CMTL) was started as Neutral with a $13 price target (versus a $13.12 close) at Citigroup.
Cooper Companies Inc. (NYSE: COO) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $210 from $190 (versus a $185.79 close) at Jefferies.
Concho Resources Inc. (NYSE: CXO) was maintained as Outperform and the price target was raised to $154 from $145 at Credit Suisse, but it was also removed from the U.S. Focus List.
Ferrellgas Partners L.P. (NYSE: FGP) was started as Neutral with a $20 price target (versus a $20.30 close) at Janney.
Jack Henry & Associates Inc. (NASDAQ: JKHY) was downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) was maintained as Outperform but the price target was cut to $40 from $42 at Oppenheimer.
Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. (NYSE: MJN) was started as Neutral with a $90 price target (versus an $84.85 close) at UBS.
Nordson Corp. (NASDAQ: NDSN) was downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer, but this is a valuation call after Nordson shares rose 10.5% to $101.96 the prior day.
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Patterson Companies Inc. (NASDAQ: PDCO) was started as Underperform with a $44 price target (versus a $46.75 close) at Merrill Lynch.
Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE: SLF) was reinstated as Underperform (with about 1.5% downside after converting Canadian dollars) at Merrill Lynch, based on earnings risk to the downside from structural issues.
Tuesday’s top analyst calls were in BHP Billiton, Deere, Logitech, Medtronic, Square, Sealed Air, Orbital ATK and a dozen more companies. Monday’s top analyst calls included Garmin, Micron Technology, U.S. Steel, Urban Outfitters, Williams Companies, Hormel and about a dozen more.
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