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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Abercrombie & Fitch, KBR, 3M, Netflix, Starbucks, HSBC and Many More
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Equity markets seem as though they normalized after the massive post-election rally of the last two weeks. The markets were indicated up marginally on Monday morning ahead of the shortened work week. Investors are looking for new ideas to generate gains or income. It has been proven now for over five years that investors will buy selloffs and market dips.
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 analyst calls cover stocks to sell or stocks to avoid.
The headwinds that should have mattered just haven’t really mattered — rising bond yields, coming Fed rate hikes, high valuations, and a huge political upset. This bull market is now also closer to 8 years old than 7 years old.
Some of the key stocks that have been considered beneficiaries of the election have risen 15% to 20% in the last 10 days. That is not normal at all and it might mean that more selective selling or profit-taking can be seen. These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from this Monday morning:
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) was downgraded to Underperform from Sector Perform and the price target was cut to $12 from $20 (versus $14.60 close on Friday, after a 13% drop) at RBC Capital Markets. Abercrombie & Fitch has a 52-week range of $14.00 to $32.83 and it has a consensus analyst price target of $18.41. There have actually been more than 10 combined price target cuts in all.
KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $21 price target (versus $16.25 close) at MKM Partners. KBR was recently pointed out among the many Trump infrastructure stock winners as well. KR has a 52-week range of $11.61 to $19.94 and it has a consensus analyst price target of $18.15.
3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $159 price target (versus $172.96 close) at Goldman Sachs. 3M shares were indicated down 1.2% at $170.90 on Monday, versus a 52-week range of $134.64 to $182.27 and it has a consensus analyst price target of $179.20.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was started with a Buy rating and was assigned a $145 price target (versus $115.21 close) at Brean Capital. Netflix has a 52-week range of $79.95 to $133.27 and it has a consensus analyst price target of $123.13.
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) was started as Neutral at Buckingham Research. Starbucks closed at $55.77, with a 52-week range of $50.84 to $63.19 and has a consensus analyst price target of $64.54.
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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades seen on Monday were in shares of the following companies:
Aon Corp. (NYSE: AON) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $130 price target (versus $111.96 close) at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.
Cirrus Logic Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS) was started with a Hold rating and was assigned a $60 price target (versus $57.79 close) at Craig-Hallum.
Finish Line Inc. (NASDAQ: FINL) was downgraded to Neutral from Positive with a $23 price target (versus $23.67 close) at Susquehanna Financial.
Greif Inc. (NYSE: GEF) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo. Greif was downgraded from Neutral to Underperform at D.A. Davidson & Company.
Headwaters Inc. (NYSE: HW) is being acquired by Boral in Australia for $24.25 per share in cash. It was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $23.50 price target (versus $20.09 close) at Canaccord Genuity. Wedbush also has a Neutral rating and says to take the cash at $24.25 per share in its offer.
HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HSBC) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Bernstein. HSBC closed down 0.7% at $39.02 on Friday and its ADSs have a 52-week trading range of $28.62 to $40.74.
Investment Technology Group (NYSE: ITG) was started as Outperform and was assigned a $20 price target (versus $19.43 close) at Credit Suisse.
Melco Crown Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ: MPEL) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Symentec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) has emerged as the winner in the buyout rumors regarding LifeLock. Oppenheimer reiterated its Outperform rating and $28 price target in a flash research note, noting that Symantec is reinvigorating its consumer division.
Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein.
We have also featured 4 cheap stocks for an expensive stock market from Jefferies.
Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades were in shares of AmEx, Citigroup, First Solar, Gap, HP Enterprise, UPS, Wells Fargo and over a dozen more companies.
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