Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: CONSOL Energy, Kroger, 3M, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Xilinx and More

Investing

Published: December 14, 2016 8:35 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 4:47 pm

Stocks are at all-time highs and the Dow closed within 100 points of 20,000 on Tuesday. Due to the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and an expected rate hike later today and a lack of other news, stocks were looking for direction on Wednesday morning.

Since the election, the stock market has risen almost daily and investors just keep buying stocks. Even with a bull market that is going on eight years old, investors are looking for new ideas for 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 our readers. Some of these analyst research reports cover stocks to buy, and other analyst calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

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

CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $24 from $22 (versus a $19.53 prior close) at Jefferies. After the analyst day, the firm sees continued improvements, increasing capital efficiency and attractive valuation.

Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) was raised to Neutral from Underweight and the price target was raised to $34 from $28 (versus a $34.42 close) at Piper Jaffray. The stock has a 52-week trading range of $28.71 to $42.75 and a $35.55 consensus analyst price target.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) was down 0.5% at $178.83 on Tuesday after guidance was deemed soft. Jefferies reiterated its Buy rating and $200 price target. Credit Suisse reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $192 from $190. 3M has a $183.20 consensus target price.

NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) was raised to Buy from Hold and was given a $120 price target (versus a $91.17 close) at Evercore ISI. The consensus price target is $89.24, and the 52-week range is $24.75 to $96.62.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight with a $70 price target (versus a $69.34 close) at JPMorgan. Its 52-week range is $42.24 to $71.62, and the consensus price target is $73.36.

Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $70 price target (versus a $56.48 close) at Evercore ISI. The 52-week range is $40.44 to $56.99. The consensus analyst target is $52.06.

24/7 Wall St. also released the preliminary Dogs of the Dow for 2017 for massive dividends. This list is still subject to change.

Follow @Jonogg on Twitter to receive the daily analyst calls and research updates directly on your Twitter feed.

Other key analyst upgrades and downgrades were seen as follows:

Accuray Inc. (NASDAQ: ARAY) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight with a $6 price target (versus a $5.15 close) at JPMorgan.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) was raised to Outperform from Perform with an $80 price target (versus a $65.14 close) at Oppenheimer.

Crestwood Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: CEQP) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $30 price target (versus a $23.50 close) at Goldman Sachs. The company has one of the 10% or so payout rates on a distribution yield equivalent, but it also has just a $21.29 consensus price target.

Kaiser Aluminum Corp. (NASDAQ: KALU) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie.

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) was started as Underperform and given a $40 price objective (versus a $42.40 close) at Merrill Lynch. The firm sees a challenging near-term outlook and earnings in 2017 at 10% below consensus.

Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) was raised to Buy from Hold at Argus.

Moelis & Co. (NYSE: MC) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $37 price objective (versus a $30.15 close) at Merrill Lynch.

NextEra Energy Partners L.P. (NYSE: NEP) was reinstated with a Buy rating and assigned a $27 price objective (versus a $24.96 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Omega Protein Corp. (NYSE: OME) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $29 price target (versus $a 25.65 close) at Deutsche Bank.

OneMain Holdings Inc. (NYSE: OMF) was started as Buy and assigned a $29 price target (versus a $21.57 close) at Deutsche Bank.

PetroChina Co. Ltd. (NYSE: PTR) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. (NASDAQ: RRGB) was raised to Neutral from Underperform and the price objective was raised to $54 from $45 at Merrill Lynch. The call is after a new chief financial officer announcement.

Sage Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SAGE) was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform with an $84 price target (versus a $48.07 close) at Raymond James.

Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SRPT) was maintained as Hold at Jefferies, but the target was cut to $32 from $46 (versus a $31.82 close). The call was based on stronger payer pushback and slower uptake and launch for Exondys 51.

Universal Health Services Inc. (NYSE: UHS) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.

Was Citigroup’s big upside for Apple really all that big?

Deutsche Bank has its top networking stock picks for 2017.

Merrill Lynch has raised its targets on steel stocks again.

Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Amgen, Coca-Cola, IBM, Procter & Gamble, Viacom, SeaWorld, NovoCure and over a dozen more.

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