Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AMD, Campbell Soup, Lockheed Martin, PNC Financial, Wells Fargo, Cerner and More

Investing

Published: September 19, 2016 8:55 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 3:26 am

Stocks were indicated higher on Monday morning after a week of volatility. One point that keeps getting proved is that investors have found varying reasons to come in and buy stocks after any real weakness. Those same investors are also hunting for new ideas to generate income or gains ahead, as well as looking for ideas to keep them from losing money.

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 Monday morning:

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) was reiterated as Buy with a $9 price target (versus a $6.05 prior close) at Jefferies. The firm is reflecting the recent debt and equity financing, noting multiple catalysts ahead and that the Street has not fully caught on here. AMD has a 52-week trading range of $1.65 to $8.00 and a consensus analyst price target of $6.01.

Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus. Shares closed most recently at $55.38, and the 52-week range is $47.77 to $67.89. The consensus price target is $58.83.

Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo. Shares closed at $237.45 on Friday, and the defense contractor has a 52-week range of $199.01 to $266.93 and a consensus price target of $263.38.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $101 price target (versus an $89.39 close) at BMO Capital Markets. Its 52-week range is $77.40 to $97.50.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is getting some defending analyst coverage after its recent sell-off from new of fake accounts being opened. It was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $50 price target (versus a $45.43 close) at Robert W. Baird. The 52-week range is $44.50 to $56.34, and the consensus price target is $52.39.

Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen as follows:

Cerner Corp. (NASDAQ: CERN) was started with a Buy rating and with a $67 price target (versus a $62.02 close) at Merrill Lynch.
Enable Midstream Partners (NYSE: ENBL) was raised to Neutral from Sell with a $16 price target (versus a $14.42 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Energen Corp. (NYSE: EGN) was started with a Buy rating and was assigned a $66 price target (versus a $52.83 close) at Canaccord Genuity.
Molina Healthcare (NYSE: MOH) was raised to Neutral from Sell with a $58 price target (versus a $55.74 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Viacom, Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel.
Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU) was downgraded to Negative from Neutral with a $17 price target (versus a $20.33 close) at Susquehanna.
Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL) was raised to Neutral from Sell with a $40 price target (versus a $41.20 close) at UBS.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Citigroup, Enterprise Products Partners, GoPro, Lululemon Athletica, Novavax and many more.

You can follow @Jonogg on Twitter if you want the daily analyst calls and research updates directly on your Twitter feed.

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