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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Anthem, DR Horton, Intuit, KLA-Tencor, Netflix, Potash, Signet, Xerox and More
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Stocks were weak across the board on Tuesday morning after Monday’s snap-back rally tried to negate Friday’s big drop. It appears that volatility is back in the market again, but the bull market is now seven and a half years old. Investors have proven over and over that they will buy any real pullbacks, and they remain opportunistic when they find new ideas to generate income or gains ahead.
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 analyst research reports cover stocks to buy, and some reports feature stocks to sell or to avoid.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Tuesday morning:
Anthem Inc. (NYSE: ANTM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $138 price target (versus a $128.58 prior close) at Jefferies. The cut is on expense concerns and lack of catalysts. Anthem has a 52-week trading range of $115.63 to $152.44 and a consensus analyst price target of $165.82.
D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch, but the firm maintained its $36 price objective. It has a consensus price target of $35.05 and a 52-week range of $22.97 to $34.56.
Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $105 price target (versus a $109.54 close) at Morgan Stanley. The 52-week range is $84.36 to $116.97, and the consensus price target is $114.38.
KLA-Tencor Corp. (NASDAQ: KLAC) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the price target was raised to $85 from $82 at Credit Suisse. The firm sees multiple paths for shareholders to win. The 52-week range is $46.76 to $77.85, and the consensus price target is $76.70.
Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Macquarie, based on more competition and rising content cost concerns. Netflix was also just named on a list of the most expensive stocks in a high valuation market on Monday. It has a 52-week range of $79.95 to $133.27 and a consensus price target of $104.42.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT) was downgraded to Outperform from Buy at CLSA. The company is merging with Agrium, and after closing at $16.76, shares have a consensus price target of $16.35.
Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE: SIG) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with an $85 price target (versus a $78.54 close) at Cowen. The consensus analyst target is up at $112.00, and the 52-week range is $76.10 to $152.27.
Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $13 price target (versus a $9.81 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. As a reminder, Xerox is breaking itself up. It has a 52-week range of $8.48 to $11.39 and a consensus analyst price target of $11.15.
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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades from this Tuesday were seen as follows:
American Farmland Co. (NYSEMKT: AFCO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) is merging with Potash Corp. and is seeing post-news downgrades. Agrium was cut to Underperform from Buy at Merrill Lynch and downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Markets.
Applied Genetic Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: AGTC) was last seen down 25% at $9.88, under its prior 52-week low of $10.89, after earnings. It was downgraded to Sell from Buy at Janney and to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Camden Property Trust (NYSE: CPT) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at UBS.
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Wunderlich.
Cohen & Steers MLP Income and Energy Opportunity Fund (NYSE: MIE) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch.
CONE Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: CNNX) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
EnLink Midstream LLC (NYSE: ENLC) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral with a $17 price target at Credit Suisse, which also downgraded EnLink Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: ENLK) to Neutral from Outperform with a $21 price target.
Enable Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: ENBL) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with $16 price target at Credit Suisse.
Headwaters Inc. (NYSE: HW) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $21 price target (versus a $16.98 close) at Jefferies, based on it being an underappreciated growth stock with a favorable setup at current prices.
Progress Software Corp. (NASDAQ: PRGS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Ladenburg Thalmann.
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (NASDAQ: RRGB) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy with a $50 price objective (versus a $48.83 close) at Merrill Lynch.
Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Brean Capital.
Monday’s top analyst calls included Colgate-Palmolive, Gilead Sciences, Navistar, Occidental Petroleum, Pandora Media, Wal-Mart and over a dozen more.
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