Stocks were indicated to open lower on Friday, with the week having more down days. Despite all the election rhetoric, despite weak economic data, despite a coming tightening from the Federal Reserve and despite high valuations, investors have been buying each real sell-off. Those investors are looking for new ideas to generate income or gains ahead.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning. The goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some analyst research reports cover stocks to buy, while others feature stocks to sell or avoid.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday morning:

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) was started as Equal Weight with a $7 price target (versus a $6.96 prior close) at Barclays. AMD has a 52-week trading range of $1.75 to $8.00 and a consensus analyst price target of $6.12.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $36 price target at Morgan Stanley. Shares were down over 48% on Thursday but were indicated up almost 5% at $38 on Friday.

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Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) was reinstated as Underperform at Credit Suisse, after the sharper than anticipated decline in hot-rolled sheet. The stock closed down 1.7% at $5.58 and was indicated down 1.4% at $5.50 on Friday. It has a 52-week range of $1.20 to $8.45.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) closed up 1.1% at $22.78 and was indicated up over 6% after releasing sales data. It was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $32 at Jefferies. Deutsche Bank raised it to Hold from Sell with a $24 price target. The 52-week range is $17.00 to $30.49.

GW Pharmaceuticals PLC (NASDAQ: GWPH) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $189 price target (versus a $133.10 close) at Goldman Sachs. It has a 52-week range of $35.83 to $136.98 and a consensus analyst target of $141.13.

KLA-Tencor Corp. (NASDAQ: KLAC) was raised to Buy from Hold with an $84 price target (versus a $71.79 close) at Needham. The 52-week range is $51.16 to $77.85, and the consensus price target is $73.95.

Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) was started as Outperform with a $12 price target (versus a $10.08 close) at Wedbush. The firm sees low valuations on top of it lowering expenses to overcome macro issues.

Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Pivotal Research, but the price target was slashed to $40 from $100 (versus a $74.38 close). The 52-week range is $42.89 to $77.05, and the consensus price target is $82.20.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) was reiterated as Buy with a $86 price target at Jefferies. This is after a 3.2% drop after weak growth projections at annual meeting. Wal-Mart has a consensus price target of $75.99.

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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades from this Friday were seen as follows:

Actuant Corp. (NYSE: ATU) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Aflac Inc. (NYSE: AFL) was started as Underperform at Credit Suisse.

Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: HAWK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch, noting that lingering EMV issues will persist longer than expected.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: CFG) was started as Outperform with a $29 price target (versus a $24.99 close) at Wedbush. Their view is that the turnaround story can continue and it is growing faster than peers.

Columbia Sportswear Co. (NASDAQ: COLM) was already rated as Buy but was added to the prized Conviction Buy list with a $71 price target (versus a $56.68 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, but the price target was raised to $22 from $19.50 (versus a $20.74 prior close). The call is after valuations have caught up.

Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN) was started as Outperform with a $12 price target (versus a $9.88 close) at Wedbush. The firm noted that the successful integration of FirstMerit is paramount to the investment story, but it is the second lowest P/E ratio in its bank sector coverage.

KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) was started as Outperform with a $15 price target (versus a $12.41 close) at Wedbush. They called it the lowest P/E in its bank sector.

Principal Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: PFG) was started as Underperform at Credit Suisse.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) was reiterated as Buy and the price objective was raised to $72 from $68 at Merrill Lynch. This call is on the implied NXP potential merger.

Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) was already rated as Buy but was added to the prized Conviction Buy list with a $120 price target (versus a $101.41 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG) was removed from the US 1 list at Merrill Lynch, but the firm did maintain its Buy rating.

TerraForm Power Inc. (NASDAQ: TERP) was started with a Hold rating and assigned a $13 price target (versus a $14.38 close) at Deutsche Bank.

Voya Financial Inc. (NYSE: VOYA) was started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

It should be pointed out that Wedbush had four initiations in the banking sector with Outperform ratings. While those have upside, this was a regional and Texas banking sector call in which 10 other peer banks were assigned only Neutral ratings.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades were in American Express, Encana, Petrobras, Raytheon, Tesla, Walgreens and many more.

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