Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Bluebird, Celgene, Coach, 58.com, Gold Fields, Nike, Rite Aid, Vipshop, Waste Management and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: June 30, 2017 8:55 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 10:32 am

Stocks were indicated to open marginally higher on Friday after a two swing days this week. Thursday saw a large and broad sell-off, after a solid rally on Wednesday. Even though this bull market is well over eight years old, equity investors keep finding myriad new reasons to buy any major pullback or sell-off. Those same investors are also continuing to search for new investing and trading ideas.

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

Many people might have assumed that the Friday before what will be a four-day weekend would be quiet, but there were many analyst calls in major companies. There will be very few analyst calls made this coming Monday.

Consensus analyst price target data come 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 Friday, June 30, 2017.

AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE: ABC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $95 price objective (versus a $95.76 prior close) at Merrill Lynch.

Bluebird Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BTIG. Shares closed down 0.8% at $108.25 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $37.05 to $123.75 and with a prior consensus target price of $107.85.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (NYSE: COG) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $32 price objective (versus a $24.82 close) at Merrill Lynch. The stock was up 1.4% on Thursday and up another 0.8% at $25.01 early Friday. Its 52-week trading range is $20.02 to $26.74 and its consensus target price was $28.70.

Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BTIG. Celgene was down almost 2% at $131.70 on Thursday and was indicated marginally lower on Friday. The 52-week range is $96.93 to $135.18, and the consensus price target is $142.04.

Clean Harbors Inc. (NYSE: CLH) was started as Outperform and assigned a $65 price target (versus a $54.54 close) at BMO Capital Markets.

Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $59 price target (versus a $46.86 close) at Canaccord Genuity.

CoreSite Realty Corp. (NYSE: COR) was started with a Neutral rating with a $103 target price (versus a $102.95 close) at Credit Suisse.

CyrusOne Inc. (NASDAQ: CONE) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $73 price target (versus a $54.90 close) at Credit Suisse.

Equinix Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) was started with an Outperform rating and was given a $510 price target (versus a $421.28 close) at Credit Suisse. Its 52-week range is $314.55 to $447.26.

58.com Inc. (NYSE: WUBA) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $40 target price (versus a $44.40 close) at Morgan Stanley. Shares of 58.com, which operates online classifieds and listing platforms to connect merchants and consumers in China, were last seen down 6.5% at $41.53 early Friday.

Gold Fields Ltd. (NYSE: GFI) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs, and the stock was down almost 4% at $3.41 on Thursday. It was indicated up almost 1% at $3.44 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $2.60 to $6.60. The consensus target price was $3.22.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was down 0.4% at $53.17, but its shares were up 6% at $56.36 after beating earnings expectations. Nike was reiterated as Buy with a $75 target price at Jefferies, and Telsey Advisory also raised its target to $63 from $62. Nike has a 52-week range of $49.01 to $60.33.

Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) imploded even further after its merger was formally called off and it agreed to sell stores. Its stock was down 26.5% at $2.89 on Thursday. Evercore ISI started coverage with an Underperform rating and $2.50 price target. Rite Aid’s new multiyear low is $2.75.

RE/MAX Holdings Inc. (NYSE: RMAX) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral with a $56 price objective (versus a $57.75 close) at Merrill Lynch.

Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) was started as Outperform and given a $71 price target (versus a $63.23 close) at BMO Capital Markets.

Vipshop Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: VIPS) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $12.50 price target (versus an $11.53 close) at Deutsche Bank. Its American depositary shares were indicated down 2% at $11.30 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $10.50 to $17.41. The prior consensus target price was $16.56.

Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WM) was started as Outperform with an $81 price target (versus a $73.02 close) at BMO Capital Markets.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Amarin, American Express, Barrick Gold, Cameco, Groupon, ImmunoGen, JPMorgan, Whole Foods and more.

Twenty-five great American companies have dividend yields above 3.5%. This is a full percentage point higher than the average Dow and S&P 500 dividend yields, and it is also 100 points higher than a blend of long-term Treasury bonds. Also worth noting, these are not even volatile real estate investment trusts (REITs).