Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alphabet, Enterprise Products, GrubHub, Mattel, Ryanair, Splunk and Many More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: June 15, 2017 9:10 am

Last Updated: March 20, 2020 11:07 am

Stocks were indicated to open lower on Thursday after the markets hit new highs again on Wednesday, a day after the Federal Reserve hiked rates and announced a sooner than expected plan to dismantle or normalize its $4.4 trillion or so balance sheet. The bull market is now over eight years old and investors have continued to prove that they are willing buy every stock market sell-off. Those same investors are also hunting for new investing and trading ideas.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each morning in an effort to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy. Other reports cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

The consensus analyst price targets are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service. Additional color and commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst calls.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Thursday, June 15, 2017.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $1,000 price target (versus a $967.93 prior closing price) at Canaccord Genuity. Alphabet was indicated down 1.5% at $952.80, with a 52-week trading range of $672.66 to $1008.61 and a consensus analyst target price of $1060.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley. It closed down 0.8% at $26.47 on Wednesday and was indicated lower by 0.4% at $26.37 on Thursday. Its 52-week range is $24.01 to $30.25 and it has a consensus target price of $32.93.

GrubHub Inc. (NYSE: GRUB) was started as Market Perform and assigned a $45 price target at Wells Fargo. The 52-week range is $27.89 to $46.83 and the consensus price target is $46.55.

Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) was down 2.2% at $22.15 on Wednesday and was down another 2.9% at $21.51 on Thursday. After cutting the dividend more than expected, Mattel was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at D.A. Davidson. Jefferies maintained its Hold rating but its target is $19, based on weak sales and noting that its targets still too aggressive given the company and the environment. Monness Crespi & Hardt kept a Buy rating but cut its target to $27 from $29.

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: RYAAY) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs. Its American depositary shares closed at $109 on Wednesday but were indicated lower by 0.7% on Thursday. The 52-week range is $67.56 to $109.64, and the consensus price target is $116.00.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and the price target was cut to $63 from $72 (versus a $57.60 close) at Wedbush. The firm sees transition challenges and more emerging competition on several fronts. Splunk has a 52-week trading range of $50.60 to $69.23.

Other top analyst calls were seen in shares the following companies:

Achaogen Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAO) was started as Buy with a $29 price target (versus a $22.11 close) at H.C. Wainwright.

Americas Silver Corp. (NYSEMKT: USAS) was started as Buy with a $4 price target (versus a $2.92 close) at Rodman & Renshaw.

Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) was started as Overweight with a $4 target price (versus a $1.36 close) at Cantor Fitzgerald.

ARRIS International PLC (NASDAQ: ARRS) was started as Buy with a $38 price target (versus a $28.65 close) at BTIG Research.

Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE: BZH) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $15 price target (versus a $12.31 close) at Wedbush. The firm sees 2018 as what should be a growth year on multiple fronts.

Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.

CIGNA Corp. (NYSE: CI) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $185 from $174 at Oppenheimer.

Delphi Automotive PLC (NYSE: DLPH) was started as Outperform and assigned a $95 price target (versus an $85.93 close) at Raymond James.

Fairmount Santrol Holdings Inc. (NYSE: FMSA) was started as Neutral with a fair value estimate of $5.60 (versus a $4.76 close) at Janney.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $229 from $218 at Oppenheimer.

Healthcare Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: HR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $36 price target at Jefferies. The downgrade was driven primarily by valuation (stock up 16% year to date) as it is valued at 21.3 times forward 12 months earnings (P/FFO).

La Quinta Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LQ) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley. Its $16 price target compared with a $14.64 closing price.

Smart Sand Inc. (NYSE: SND) was started with a Buy rating and given a $13 fair value estimate (versus a $9.13 close) at Janney.

U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SLCA) was started as Buy with a $51 fair value estimate (versus a $37.24 close) at Janney.

Yatra Online Inc. (NASDAQ: YTRA) was started as Buy with a $15 target price (versus a $10.32 price) at Deutsche Bank.

Wednesday’s top analyst calls were in Anadarko Petroleum, Callaway Golf, Infinera, ONEOK, Starbucks and many more companies.

You can follow @Jonogg on Twitter if you want analyst calls and research notes directly on your own feed.