Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AK Steel, Celgene, Darden, Delphi Automotive, Johnson & Johnson, US Steel and More

Investing

Published: November 29, 2016 9:05 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 5:21 pm

Monday brought a much needed sell-off after two and half weeks of almost constant rallying, but the sell-off was minimal. Tuesday’s opening indication on the S&P 500 and Dow is up marginally after a stronger third-quarter GDP revision. Investors have proven over and over that they will buy stocks on any real pullbacks, and investors are also looking for new ideas to generate gains or income.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each day of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for its 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 Tuesday morning:

AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $9 price target (versus a $9.10 prior close) at Macquarie. Shares closed down 3.2% on Monday and were indicated another 4% lower at $8.74 on Tuesday, in a 52-week trading range of $1.64 to $9.50 and versus a consensus analyst price target of $7.04.

Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG) was started as Outperform and assigned a $141 price target (versus a $120.30 close) at Oppenheimer. Its 52-week range is $93.05 to $127.00, and the consensus price target is $137.91.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $125 price target (versus a $113.13 close) at Barclays. The 52-week range is $94.28 to $126.07. The consensus price target is $126.32.

United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus. It has a 52-week range of $6.15 to $33.78 and a consensus analyst target of $22.60.

Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $72 target price (versus a $73.93 close) at Credit Suisse. The 52-week range is $55.01 to $74.99, and the consensus price target is $69.10.

Delphi Automotive PLC (NYSE: DLPH) was downgraded to Underweight from Overweight with a $59 price target (versus a $66.32 close) at Morgan Stanley. The 52-week range is $55.59 to $88.89, and the consensus price target is $81.73.

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Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades seen on Tuesday were in shares of the following companies:

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $105 price target (versus an $88.36 close) at Barclays.

HERC Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HRI) was started as Hold at Jefferies.

Kimco Realty Corp. (NYSE: KIM) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Neff Corp. (NYSE: NEFF) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral with a $53 price target (versus a $61.97 close) at Macquarie.

Nivalis Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS) was last seen down 53% at $2.90 after a failed Phase 2 trial failed to meet its primary endpoint. Multiple analyst downgrades have been seen: Cowen to Market Perform from Outperform, to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird and to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.

OncoCyte Corp. (NYSEMKT: OCX) was reiterated as Buy and the fair value estimate was raised to $13 (versus a $6.60 close) at Janney.

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (NYSE: RS) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie.

Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: SAIC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $70 price target (versus a $66.99 close) at Barclays.

Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $35 price target (versus a $35.48 close) at Macquarie.

Veracyte Inc. (NASDAQ: VCYT) was raised to Buy with a $16 price target (versus a $7.68 close) at Janney.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $90 price target (versus an $86.90 close) at Barclays.

Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.

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Monday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included 3M, Campbell Soup, Cracker Barrel, Deere, Johnson Controls, Panera and many more.

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