Stocks were looking for direction ahead of the unemployment and payrolls report, but this is after eight days of consecutive selling. For more than five years investors have used a different reason each time but they have bought stocks after sell-offs. Now we just have to get past the election and see where the chips will fall. Investors are still looking for new ideas to generate gains or income ahead.

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

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

Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with an $88 price target (versus a $90.25 prior close) at Credit Suisse. The stock has a 52-week trading range of $79.94 to $100.24 and a consensus analyst price target of $98.09.

Array BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $10 price target (versus a $5.38 close) at Cowen. Shares closed down 7.7% on Thursday but were indicated up 6% on Friday. The 52-week range is $2.38 to $7.27, and the consensus target price is $9.43.

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Encana Corp. (NYSE: ECA) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at RBC Capital Markets but the price target was maintained at $13 (versus a $9.84 close, after a 5.8% gain). Jefferies reiterated its Buy rating and $14 target. Encana has a 52-week range of $3.00 to $11.74 and a consensus price target of $12.62.

GoPro Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO) was down 7% at $11.94 ahead of earnings and was last seen down over 18% at $9.73 afterward. It was maintained as Outperform at Wedbush, and the price target was cut to $12 from $17.50. JPMorgan cut its target to $14 from $16, and Raymond James cut its target to $13 from $16.

3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) was maintained as Hold at Jefferies, but the firm cut its target price to $14.50 from $15. Gabelli raised its rating to Buy from Hold. Shares rose 3.1% to $13.48 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $6.00 to $19.76.

Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen as follows:

AngioDynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGO) was started as Buy with a $19 price target (versus a $15.52 close) at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $16 from $14 at Jefferies.

Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC) was raised to Positive from Neutral with a $148 price target (versus a $121.53 close, after a 5.3% drop) at Susquehanna.

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: LGF) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform and the price target was raised to $31 from $24 (versus a $19.01 close) at RBC Capital Markets.

Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP) was raised to Neutral from Sell and the price target was raised to $57 from $49 (versus a $59.63 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Michaels Companies Inc. (NYSE: MIK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.

Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE: TWO) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Web.com Inc. (NASDAQ: WEB) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $15 price target (versus a $15.55 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

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Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Brocade Communications, Facebook, First Solar, Fitbit, ONEOK Partners, SunRun and over a dozen 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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