Stocks were indicated to open strong on Monday, with the Dow up almost 100 points and the S&P 500 up about 13 points. Even with the market being just under all-time highs, the one trend that dominated more than half of the eight-year bull market is that investors have managed to keep finding new reasons to buy stocks after every sell-off. Those same investors are also searching for new investing and trading ideas.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of the top analyst reports cover stocks to buy, but some calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.
Additional color and commentary has been added on most of the daily 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 Monday, August 14, 2017.
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CenterPoint Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNP) was raised to Neutral from Underperform with a $29 price target (versus a $28.82 prior close) at Credit Suisse. It has a 52-week trading range of $21.83 to $29.45 and consensus analyst target price of $28.33.
NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) was raised to Buy from Hold at Maxim Group. It has a 52-week range of $28.32 to $45.24 and a consensus price target of $42.48.
NiSource Inc. (NYSE: NI) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the price target was raised to $29 from $25 at Credit Suisse. NiSource has a 52-week range of $21.17 to $26.69 and a consensus price target of $26.39.
Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) was down late last week after earnings. Many analysts defended Nvidia, and now Argus noted that the sell-off was overdone and it reiterated its $175 target price. Shares closed down 5.3% at $155.96 on Friday and were indicated up 1.1% at $157.70 on Monday. The 52-week range is $57.32 to $174.56, and the consensus price target is $145.20.
Orbital ATK Inc. (NYSE: OA) was raised to Buy from Hold and assigned a price target of $120 (versus a $106.58 close) at Argus. The 52-week range is $71.52 to $107.45. The consensus price target is $116.70.
Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Markets. The stock closed at $32.22 on Friday, and it has a 52-week range of $28.58 to $35.50 and a consensus price target of $36.00.
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Other key analyst calls were see in the following:
Allergan PLC (NYSE: AGN) was reiterated as Buy with a $280 price target at Argus.
Calyxt Inc. (NASDAQ: CLXT) was started as Buy and assigned a $16 price target (versus an $11.82 close) at Jefferies, and Wells Fargo started coverage as Outperform with a $17 price target.
Eiger BioPharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: EIGR) was reiterated as Outperform and with a $34 price target (versus an $8.05 close) at Wedbush Securities.
FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) was raised to Outperform from In-Line at Evercore ISI.
HCA Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: HCA) was maintained as Buy but the price target was lowered to $93 from $100 at Argus.
Kala Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: KALA) was started as Outperform with a $46 price target (versus a $19.66 close) at Wedbush. JPMorgan started coverage as Overweight and assigned a $35 price target. Merrill Lynch started it with a Buy rating and a $33 price objective.
TPG RE Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE: TRTX) was started as Buy and assigned a $20 price objective at Merrill Lynch, which noted that it is the new kid on the block and offers a good yield and modest upside.
Ultimate Software Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ULTI) was maintained as Outperform and on the Focus List at Credit Suisse, but the firm cut its price target to $245 from $260.
Friday’s top analyst calls included Blue Apron, Edison International, Goldman Sachs, Kohl’s, Nvidia, Perrigo and more.
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