Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Adobe, ClubCorp, Oracle, Silver Wheaton, Weatherford, Yahoo and Many More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: April 13, 2017 9:00 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 1:00 pm

Stocks were indicated marginally lower on Thursday morning but shares were off of their lows. Three major banks reported earnings that were generally deemed positive, but this is likely a lower-volume trading day as the markets are gearing up for a three-day weekend ahead of Good Friday. The bull market may be more than eight years old, but investors have shown for more than five years now that they will buy all market pullbacks. Those same investors are also still looking for new trading and investing ideas.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort to find new ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and some reports cover stocks to sell or stocks to avoid.

Color has been added on many of the following calls, and the consensus analyst price targets referenced are from Thomson Reuters. These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Thursday, April 13, 2017:

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) was just started with a Buy rating at Stifel a day earlier, but now Guggenheim is also issuing a Buy rating, noting that the company could have an easier time beating expectations ahead. S&P even raised its corporate credit rating to A from A− on the same metrics. Adobe’s prior close was down 0.4% at $129.38, and shares were indicated up 0.6% at $130.20. Adobe has a 52-week trading range of $90.35 to $131.33, and the consensus analyst target price is $143.13.

ClubCorp Holdings Inc. (NYSE: MYCC) was down just over 10% at $13.85 after the company said it would no longer be trying to sell itself and with its CEO “retiring” as the strategic alternatives review failed to generate a buyer. Imperial Capital maintained an Outperform rating but cut its target to $17 from $21.

Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) was reiterated as Neutral with a $43 target price (versus a $44.18 prior close) at Wedbush, but it almost felt like a hint of an upgrade. Wedbush said that it is more inclined to be positive on Oracle than in recent years, based on a better IT demand environment and potential accretion from Oracle’s transition to cloud applications. Still, the firm has concerns that consensus expectations for 2018 revenues look too high, with a caveat that acquisitions could fill that gap.

Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE: SLW) was assumed with an Outperform rating at Credit Suisse, and the price target conversion from Canadian dollars implied upside of almost 21% to the firm’s target price. Credit Suisse is above-consensus but not the highest analyst target. Silver Wheaton’s U.S.-traded shares closed up 0.5% at $21.87 on Wednesday and were indicated up 0.6% at $22.00 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $16.52 to $31.35. The consensus target price is $28.07.

Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $7.25 price target (versus a $6.33 close) at Goldman Sachs. Weatherford has a 52-week range of $3.73 to $8.49 and a consensus price target of $7.63.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) was reiterated as Hold but the price target was raised to $46 from $41 (versus a $46.83 closing price) at Pivotal Research.

Other key analyst calls were seen in the following:

Cotiviti Holdings Inc. (NYSE: COTV) was started with a Hold rating and $45 price target at Jefferies. The firm was positive on Cotiviti having a compelling growth story with predominantly recurring revenues, modest penetration into the existing client bases, minimal client turnover and long-term macroeconomic tailwinds. Still, the value limits upside.

D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) was reiterated as Outperform with a $36 price target (versus a $33.61 close) at Wedbush, with the call coming a head of the second-quarter earnings release.

HMS Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: HMSY) was started with a Hold rating and assigned a $21.50 price target at Jefferies. The firm was positive on HMS having a compelling growth story with predominantly recurring revenues, modest penetration into the existing client bases, minimal client turnover and long-term macroeconomic tailwinds. Still, the value limits upside.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) was reiterated as Buy with a $67 price target (versus a $56.51 close) at Argus. The firm’s positive view reflects gains in the Macau gaming revenue over the previous eight months, as well as a shift toward the mass-market segment in Macau.

MasTec Inc. (NYSE: MTZ) was raised to Buy from Neutral and was given a $50 price target (versus a $39.65 close) at D.A. Davidson.

NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE: NS) was raised to Neutral from Underperform and the price target was raised to $53 from $52 (versus a $47.84 close) at Credit Suisse.

Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: PCRX) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $58 price target (versus a $45.50 close) at RBC Capital Markets.

RPC Inc. (NYSE: RES) was started as Outperform with a $24 price target (versus a $19.18 close) at BMO Capital Markets.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Adobe, HP, Lululemon Athletica, Neurocrine Biosciences, PepsiCo, Under Armour and many more.

This week’s monthly RIC macroeconomic report from Merrill Lynch’s strategy team noted that the negotiations over tax reform probably will stretch on for months and the outcome will be important for markets. Some good things are happening outside of the debates in Washington, as corporate revenue growth looks to be accelerating. Merrill Lynch’s Savita Subramanian gave some key points to sum up the first quarter ahead of this earnings season: The first quarter was a quarter of reversals, where large led small, and growth beat value while many of the “Trump trades” have underperformed. She also noted that the markets could see a last bout of optimism in post-election winners, but the “Trump put” could fade if data starts to get choppier.