[cnxvideo id=”655234″ placement=”ros”]Stocks were directionless on Wednesday after another strong day after Fed Chair Janet Yellen sure sounded like a March rate hike may be more possible than the market was betting on. Regardless of how Wednesday’s market move turns out, the Dow is challenging 20.500 and has a path to 21,422 in late 2017 or 2018. The S&P 500 index also has gone above 2,300.
Even though the bull market in nearly eight years old, investors keeping finding new reasons to buy every sell-off. Those same investors also are looking for new and overlooked opportunities. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst reports each morning 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.
Many of the following analyst calls have been given some added color. and the consensus analyst price targets are from Thomson Reuters. These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday, February 15, 2017:
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. BBVA closed up 2.8% at $6.63 in Tuesday’s trading in New York, and its American depositary shares were indicated up 2% at $6.76 in early Wednesday indications. They have a 52-week range of $5.14 to $7.67, and the consensus analyst price target is $5.66.
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Fossil Group Inc. (NASDAQ: FOSL) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo, and the fair value range is now $13 to $14. The call is after poor earnings and guidance have shares down 19% at $18.44 (versus a $22.87 prior closing price). Fossil has seen its share of woes already (like who is buying watches anymore?) and this is a new recent low, as the prior 52-week range was $22.46 to $51.93.
Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $101 from $99 (versus an $87.86 close) at Jefferies. The call here is after media reports indicated activist investor Nelson Peltz’s Trian Funds has taken a $3.5 billion stake, or about 1.5% of the float.
T-Mobile US Inc. (NYSE: TMUS) was reiterated as Buy at Jefferies, and the firm raised its target handily to $71 from $59 after earnings. T-Mobile closed up 1.1% at $61.60, and it has a 52-week range of $34.87 to $63.68.
Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) was downgraded to Negative from Neutral at Susquehanna. Shares closed up 4% at $19.41 on Tuesday but were indicated down 1% at $19.22 on Wednesday. Under Armour has a 52-week range of $17.77 to $46.53 and a consensus price target of $23.00.
Universal Display Corp. (NASDAQ: OLED) was started as Positive and assigned a $100 price target at Susquehanna. It closed up 3.6% at $67.15 on Tuesday and was indicated up 2.3% at $68.70 on Wednesday. This company is a winner from the coming generation of smartphones as it makes organic light emitting diode (OLED) technologies and materials for flat panel displays and solid-state lighting applications.
Other key analyst calls were seen in the following:
Acorda Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOR) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Aircastle Ltd. (NYSE: AYR) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Cowen.
Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE: OFC) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $33 price target (versus a $32.91 close) at Robert W. Baird.
DCP Midstream L.P. (NYSE: DCP) was raised to Neutral from Underperform with a $44 price target (versus a $40.57 close) at Credit Suisse.
Hologic Inc. (NASDAQ: HOLX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.
OneMain Holdings Inc. (NYSE: OMF) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $35 price target (up from $30) at Wedbush Securities, noting that at $26.60 it is still an early story to get in on, even after shares closed up 9% the prior day. OneMain has a 52-week range of $16.03 to $33.31 and a consensus price target of $28.36.
Parker-Hannifin Corp. (NYSE: PH) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price objective was raised to $180 from $157 at Merrill Lynch.
Sunoco L.P. (NYSE: SUN) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight with a $31 price target (versus a $28.57 close) at JPMorgan.
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Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Intuitive Surgical, Restaurant Brands, Scorpio Tankers, Teva Pharmaceutical, Under Armour, Zillow and over a dozen more.
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