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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Intuitive Surgical, Restaurant Brands, Scorpio Tankers, Teva, Under Armour, Zillow and Many More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: February 14, 2017 8:55 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 2:51 pm

Stocks were simply looking for direction on Tuesday, ahead of the wholesale inflation report and ahead of Fed Chair Yellen’s testimony. Regardless of the day’s final move, the Dow has hit 20,400 and has a path to 21,422 in late 2017 or 2018 and the S&P 500 index has gone above 2,300. Some of the market moves have been put in context now as both the S&P 500 and the U.S. national debt are fighting for the $20 trillion mark.

Even though the bull market in nearly eight years old, investors keeping finding new reasons to buy every sell-off. Those same investors are also looking for new and overlooked opportunities. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each day of the week. The goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while other reports cover stocks to sell or to avoid. Most of the following analyst calls with expanded coverage include some color on prices, and the consensus analyst price targets are from Thomson Reuters.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Tuesday, February 14, 2017:

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) was reiterated as Buy and the price objective was raised to $800 from $770 (versus a $710.70 prior close) at Merrill Lynch. Intuitive Surgical’s free cash flow was called undervalued, and a peer-multiple would generate a share price of closer to $900. The 52-week trading range is $525.64 to $727.25, and the consensus analyst price target is $742.86.

Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE: QSR) was reiterated as Neutral at Merrill Lynch, but the price objective was raised to $58 based on expanding group multiples after word of a potential Popeye’s acquisition. Credit Suisse also has a Neutral rating, but the firm raised estimates and raised its target price to $53 from $45 after considering the potential transaction. We also showed how Burger King, under Restaurant Brands’ portfolio, is eating the lunch of McDonald’s.

Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE: STNG) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $5.50 price target (versus a $3.96 close) at Morgan Stanley. Merrill Lynch maintained its Underperform rating and $4 price objective. Shares were up just over 10% on Monday after earnings, and they were indicated up another 6% at $4.20 on Tuesday, in a 52-week range of $3.50 to $6.70.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) was maintained as Hold but the price target was cut to $33 from $36 at Jefferies. Teva was up 5.6% at $34.00 on Monday after guidance, in a 52-week range of $31.90 to $59.35.

Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight, but the price target was cut to $20 from $25, at Morgan Stanley. Shares closed down 2% at $18.65 on Tuesday but were indicated up almost 1% at $18.82 on Tuesday. Under Armour has a 52-week range of $17.77 to $46.53 and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Zillow Group Inc. (NYSE: Z) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $43 price target (versus a $35.19 close) at Stifel. It has a 52-week range of $17.21 to $39.88 and a consensus price target of $36.20.

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Other key analyst calls were seen in the following:

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AXL) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

Depomed Inc. (NASDAQ: DEPO) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was cut to $17 from $24 (versus a $17.00 close) at Mizuho.

Interpublic Group Companies Inc. (NYSE: IPG) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $28 from $26 at Argus in a post-earnings call.

Johnson Controls International PLC (NYSE: JCI) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus.

Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) was started with a Neutral rating and assigned a $52 price target (versus a $46.70 close) at Citigroup.

Newell Brands Inc. (NYSE: NWL) was reiterated as Buy with a $61 price target (versus a $47.06 close) at Jefferies. The firm believes that the risk from U.S. mall-based sales exposure is overblown and the firm maintained it as a Top Pick stock.

Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: PK) was started as Buy and assigned a $32 price target (versus a $27.66 close) at Instinet.

Praxair Inc. (NYSE: PX) was started with a Sell rating at Evercore ISI.

PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $26 price target (versus a $21.52 close) at FBR Capital.

RPM International Inc. (NYSE: RPM) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $59 price target (versus a $52.52 close) at Evercore ISI.

TerraForm Power Inc. (NASDAQ: TERP) was raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS.

Here are 11 evergreen and crucial issues for value investors to consider.

Monday’s top analyst calls included AK Steel, J.C. Penney, Hasbro, Petrobras, Travelers, Agilent Technologies, Regeneron and over a dozen more.