Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AT&T, CenturyLink, Goldman Sachs, OneMain, Priceline and More

Investing

Published: November 8, 2016 8:55 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 1:21 am

Stocks were indicated lower on Tuesday ahead of the election, but that followed a serious 371 point Dow gain and 46 point S&P 500 gain. For more than five years, investors have found different reasons each time to keep the bull market alive and buy the sell-offs. Investors are also 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 other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid.

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

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) was downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer. After closing Monday up 0.8% at $36.81, the shares were down 0.4% at $36.67 early Tuesday. AT&T has a consensus analyst price target of $41.23 and a 52-week range of $32.22 to $43.89.

CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) was raised to Outperform from Perform with a $30 price target (versus a $23.32 prior close) at Oppenheimer. As a reminder, the CenturyLink and Level 3 merger may have destroyed their charts long term. CenturyLink shares closed up 1.2% at $23.32 on Monday and were up 0.5% at $23.45 on Tuesday, in a 52-week range of $21.94 to $33.45. The consensus price target is $28.20.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup. After rising 3.2% to $181.48 on Monday’s close, in a 52-week range of $138.20 to $198.93, Goldman Sachs has a consensus price target of $187.48.

OneMain Holdings Inc. (NYSE: OMF) was last seen down 47% at $17.25 on Tuesday after earnings. OneMain was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $30 from $40 (versus a $20.11 close) at Jefferies. Wedbush Securities downgraded it to Neutral from Outperform, and the price target was cut to $30 from $45 as well. Merrill Lynch slashed its rating to Underperform from Buy with a $21 price objective. The 52-week range is $18.55 to $49.56, and the prior consensus price target was $40.91.

Priceline Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $1,800 from $1,700 (versus a $1,480.33 close) at Jefferies. JMP Securities reiterated its Outperform rating, and the price target was raised to $1776. UBS maintained its Neutral rating and $1,600 target. The 52-week range is $954.02 to $1,501.79.

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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen as follows:

Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAD) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $35 price target (versus $22.99 close) at Merrill Lynch.

ArcelorMittal S.A. (NYSE: MT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch, noting that there is a margin squeeze followed by few near-term catalysts.

Cempra Inc. (NASDAQ: CEMP) was downgraded to Underweight from Overweight with a $5 price target (versus a $6.85 close) at Morgan Stanley.

CenterPoint Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNP) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Digital Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: DLR) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $104 price target (versus a $93.31 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Energy Transfer Equity L.P. (NYSE: ETE) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $17 price target (versus a $14.07 close) at Bernstein.

Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Inteliquent Inc. (NASDAQ: IQNT) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.

Microsemi Corp. (NASDAQ: MSCC) was started as Buy with a $60 price target (versus a $47.84 close) at Deutsche Bank.

Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $75 price objective (versus a $62.23 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Newell Brands Inc. (NYSE: NWL) was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform with a $57 price target (versus a $49.16 close) at Raymond James.

PRA Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PRAA) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.

Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE: SHW) was raised to Buy from Hold at Evercore ISI.

Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. (NYSE: SXL) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform with a $26 price target (versus a $24.09 close) at Bernstein.

Sysco Corp. (NYSE: SYY) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a new $60 price objective at Merrill Lynch. The firm sees an improving profit outlook being driven by ongoing margin initiatives and the Brakes acquisition.

Tata Motors Ltd. (NYSE: TTM) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Tetra Technologies Inc. (NYSE: TTI) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included GoPro, Randgold Resources, Teva Pharmaceutical, Time Warner, Waste Management and many more.

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