Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Ambarella, BlackBerry, Schlumberger, Valero, Whiting Petroleum, Zynga and Many More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: May 30, 2017 9:07 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 11:33 am

Stocks were indicated to open lower on Tuesday after a three-day weekend. The S&P is still indicated above 2,400 and the Dow is indicated to be above 21,000. Even though the bull market is more eight years old, investors keep showing over and over that they will buy every big sell-off. Those same investors also are looking for new trading and investing ideas.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy and others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Some additional color and commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst calls. Consensus analyst price targets are from the mean of the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls on Tuesday, May 30, 2017.

Ambarella Inc. (NASDAQ: AMBA) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at Pacific Crest. Shares closed up 12 cents at $65.05 on Friday but were indicated to open down almost 4% at $62.50 on Tuesday morning. Ambarella had a consensus analyst target price of $64.40 and a 52-week trading range of $40.46 to $74.95.

BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James. It closed down 1% at $11.11 on Friday and was indicated down 1% at $11.00 on Tuesday. BlackBerry’s 52-week range is $6.23 to $11.55 and it had a consensus target price of $8.79.

Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) was reiterated as Neutral at Merrill Lynch, noting that the stock looks weak after having decoupled from oil as its defensive positioning looks less obvious. Schlumberger closed up 1% at $69.59 on Friday, and it has a 52-week range of $68.94 to $87.84.

Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley. Valero closed down 1.17% at $62.45 on Friday and was indicated down another 0.5% at $62.16 on Tuesday. The 52-week range is $46.88 to $71.40, and the consensus price target is $73.66.

Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs. It closed up 0.6% at $7.97 on Friday but was indicated to open down 3.5% at $7.69 on Tuesday. Whiting has a 52-week range of $6.38 to $14.44 and a consensus target price of $12.76.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray. It was indicated up 2.3% at $3.57 on Tuesday, in a 52-week range of $2.27 to $3.63. The prior consensus target price was $3.41.

Other key analyst calls were seen in the following:

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $165 from $145 (versus a $145.57 prior closing price) at Argus. The report noted that Aetna’s efforts to exit the ACA public exchanges, withdrawing from that market by 2018, are further improving profit margins.

AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Wedbush Securities, but it was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs on valuation. AutoZone’s stock price was at roughly $662 prior to earnings last week but closed out the week at $615.62 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $573.80 to $819.54.

Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral and the price target was cut to $115 from $150 (versus a $141.00 close) at Wedbush. The firm is calling the activist proxy fight and the current management strategy a lose-lose situation for Buffalo Wild Wings shareholders.

China Rapid Finance Ltd. (NYSE: XRF) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $10 price target (versus a $7.07 close) at Jefferies. The firm called China Rapid Finance one of the leading online marketplaces in China that will win from the large and untapped unsecured consumer finance marketplace.

Eaton Corp. PLC (NYSE: ETN) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $85 from $83 (versus a $77.56 close) at Argus. The firm sees Eaton shares trading below it peer-average multiples, with a clean balance sheet and with a 3.1% dividend yield.

Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ: JACK) was reiterated with a Buy rating and a $120 price objective at Merrill Lynch.

Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE: NFX) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs, but the price target was lowered to $45 from $52 (versus a $33.08 close). Newfield has a 52-week range of $32.39 to $50.00 and a consensus target price of $49.87.

O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Wedbush.

pSivida Corp. (NASDAQ: PSDV) was started with a Buy rating and assigned an $8 price target (versus a $2.22 close) at Rodman & Renshaw. The 52-week range is $1.50 to $4.25, and it only has an $87 million market cap.

PVH Corp. (NYSE: PVH), Phillips-Van Heusen, was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the price target was raised to $136 from $114 (versus a $105.29 close) at Credit Suisse. The report called PVH a compelling international opportunity with sustained global demand for both Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger brands.

Sanderson Farms Inc. (NASDAQ: SAFM) was reiterated with an Underperform rating and with an $85 target price (versus a $120.03 close) at Jefferies. This is despite raising estimates but due to competing meat prices pressuring chicken demand.

UroGen Pharma Ltd. (NASDAQ: URGN) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $32 price target (versus an $18.48 close) at Oppenheimer.

Zoetis Inc. (NYSE: ZTS) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $69 from $60 (versus a $62.61 close) at Argus. The report noted that Zoetis is the only publicly traded pure-play animal health and vaccine company now and is the market leader in revenue.