Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades: AK Steel, Boeing, Facebook, Newmont, Kinder Morgan, PayPal, State Street and More

Investing

Published: July 27, 2017 8:45 am

Last Updated: March 20, 2020 11:11 am

Stocks have continued to surge to new all-time highs, and Thursday’s opening bell indications were higher yet again. This bull market is over eight years old, and the one trend that keeps holding up is that every big sell-off has been a buying opportunity. Investors also are searching for new investing and trading ideas for gains and income ahead.

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

Additional color and commentary has been added on most of these analyst calls. Consensus analyst price target data are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Thursday, July 27, 2017.

AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Longbow. After closing down almost 7% at $6.24 on Wednesday, the shares were indicated down another 0.5% at $6.20 on Thursday. AK Steel has a 52-week trading range of $3.87 to $11.39.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) has seen several post-earnings upgrades, and its shares rose 9.88% to $233.45 on Wednesday and were indicated up marginally higher on Thursday at new all-time highs. Goldman Sachs raised its rating to Neutral from Sell with a $205 price target. Merrill Lynch raised Boeing to Buy from Neutral with a $275 price objective. Credit Suisse raised it to Outperform from Neutral with a $300 target price. Jefferies reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $275 from $230. RBC raised its rating to Sector Perform from Underperform with a $235 price target.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) posted another strong earnings report, and after closing at $165.61 the stock was up 6.1% at $175.75 on Thursday. Credit Suisse reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target price to $190 from $180, noting that the strong ad revenue growth will fund Facebook’s video investments. Merrill Lynch reiterated its Buy rating on Facebook and raised its price objective to $190 from $180, with the firm noting that pricing tailwinds are accelerating and more than offsetting impression deceleration at the same time that Instagram and WhatsApp continue to thrive. RBC Capital Markets reiterated its Outperform rating and raised Facebook’s target price to $195 from $185. Morgan Stanley reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its price target to $190 from $175.

Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was set at $43 (versus a $36.93 prior close) after strong earnings propelled the stock higher this week. The shares were at $33.90 on Monday, and the 52-week range is $30.19 to $46.07. The consensus analyst target price is $40.19.

Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) was started with a Neutral rating and assigned a $22 price target at Mizuho. The stock closed at $20.34 on Wednesday, in a 52-week range of $18.31 to $23.36, and it has a consensus price target of $24.75.

PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) closed up 1% at $58.79 ahead of earnings, and its stock was up another 2.8% at $60.45 after earnings. PayPal was reiterated as Buy with a $68 target at Jefferies. Wedbush maintained its Outperform rating and $66 target. Credit Suisse reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $63 from $56. PayPal’s prior 52-week range was $36.28 to $59.38.

State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) was raised to Neutral from Underperform with a $95 price target (versus a $94.28 close) at Evercore ISI. State Street has a 52-week range of $63.58 to $96.26 and a consensus price target of $94.83.

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Other key analyst calls were seen as follows:

Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) closed down almost 1% at $122.65 on Wednesday and was indicated down almost 8% at $113.00 on Thursday after an earnings miss. The stock was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Telsey Advisory Group.

DDR Corp. (NYSE: DDR) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $13 price target (versus a $10.30 close) at Deutsche Bank.

Dean Foods Co. (NYSE: DF) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform with a $13 price target (versus a $15.38 close) at Bernstein.

Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $132 from $115 (versus a $115.61 close) at Jefferies.

F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) was indicated down close to 10% to around $116 after missing earnings estimates. It was downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer. Wells Fargo downgraded it to Market Perform from Outperform with a $120 price target. The 52-week range is $114.45 to $149.50.

Heritage-Crystal Clean Inc. (NASDAQ: HCCI) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $20 price target (versus an $18.35 close) at Robert W. Baird, but this valuation downgrade was after shares hit a 52-week high on a 14% gain the prior day.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) already rose after beating earnings, and multiple analysts raised their price targets. Argus raised its target price to $175 from $158 as well.

Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan.

Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. (NASDAQ: SFM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, with the firm noting limited upside in a post-Amazon/Whole Foods world.

Synaptics Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNA) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $75 price target (versus a $53.93 close) at Cowen.

Trinity Industries Inc. (NYSE: TRN) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $31 price target (versus a $26.96 close) at Stifel.

United Microelectronics Corp. (NYSE: UMC) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, after falling 5% to $2.43 the prior day. It was also cut to Underperform from Market Perform at Bernstein.

United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Longbow.

Credit Suisse reiterated its Outperform ratings and raised estimates on both Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WM) and Waste Connections Inc. (NYSE: WCN).

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decision on Wednesday to leave interest rates unchanged was expected, but the its guidance on starting to reduce that $4.4+ trillion balance sheet to more normalization went from “this year” at the prior meeting to “relatively soon” in this week’s meeting — the markets are taking this to mean “starting in September.”

There are 11 great old American companies that have totally lost control of their narrative, and some of them are continuing to fall even after good or decent earnings.

Wednesday’s top analyst calls included BP, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Citigroup, Electronic Arts, Eli Lilly, McDonald’s, Texas Instruments, U.S. Steel and many more.

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