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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Ariad, AT&T, Chesapeake Energy, Hain Celestial, Nike, Visa and More
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Stocks were looking for direction on Tuesday despite a slew of Dow and S&P 500 earnings reports. Investors still seem willing to buy each pullback, even if there are high valuations and a bull market that is seven and a half years old. Investors are also looking for new ideas to generate gains or income 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, and some reports feature stocks to sell or to avoid.
These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Tuesday morning:
Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) already received one full analyst review on Monday, and shares closed down 9.7% at $9.37. Now JMP Securities has downgraded it to Market Perform from Market Outperform. The stock has a 52-week trading range of $4.37 to $14.34 and a consensus analyst price target of $13.33.
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) was raised to Hold from Sell and the price target was raised to $39 from $36 at Independent Research. It has a 52-week range of $32.22 to $43.89 and a consensus price target of $41.95.
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was raised to Sector Perform from Underperform with an $8 price target (versus a $6.36 prior close) at RBC Capital Markets. The 52-week range is $1.50 to $8.15, and the consensus price target is $7.37.
Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) was started as Positive at Susquehanna. Han Celestial has a 52-week range of $33.12 to $56.99 and has a consensus analyst price target of $43.38.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was started as Perform at Oppenheimer. The stock was last seen down 2% at $50.50 on the heels of Under Armour earnings. Nike has a 52-week range of $50.96 to $68.19 and a consensus price target of $62.41.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim. It was maintained as Buy and the price target was raised to $97 from $90 at UBS. Shares closed up 1% at $83.17 ahead of earnings and were down 0.5% at $82.75 on Tuesday. Visa has a 52-week range of $66.12 to $83.79 and a consensus price target of $92.80.
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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen as follows:
AAR Corp. (NYSE: AIR) was started with a Buy rating at Gabelli.
Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE: ANET) was started as Buy with a $107 price target (versus an $84.03 close) at Argus.
Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL) was started as Hold at Canaccord Genuity.
Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ: LRCX) was started as Neutral with a $104 price target (versus a $98.98 close) at Goldman Sachs.
Logitech International S.A. (NASDAQ: LOGI) was started as Buy with a $30 price target at Brean Capital.
Nutanix Inc. (NASDAQ: NTNX) was started as Outperform at William Blair and as Buy at Needham. Raymond James started coverage at Market Perform, and Stifel started Nutanix as Hold.
Ocwen Financial Corp. (NYSE: OCN) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
PPG Industries Inc. (NYSE: PPG) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus.
Superior Energy Services Inc. (NYSE: SPN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.
Synergy Resources Corp. (NYSEMKT: SYRG) was started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Tidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Argus.
Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $105 price target (versus an $86.74 close) at Wedbush. The firm does not love AT&T’s strategy, but it thinks the merger will go through.
VF Corp. (NYSE: VFC) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Monday’s top analyst calls were in Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Comcast, ConEd, Electronic Arts, Kinder Morgan, 3M, Time Warner and about a dozen more.
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