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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Chesapeake Energy, Lululemon, Oracle, US Steel, Disney, YogaWorks and More
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Stocks were indicated to open lower on Monday, but investors know that the major stock indexes remain close to all-time highs. The primary trend that has prevailed for five or so years in this more than eight-year bull market is that investors have managed to keep finding new reasons to buy stocks after every sell-off. Many investors are also looking for new investing and trading ideas to generate gains and income.
24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of these top analyst reports cover stocks to buy. Other calls are reiterations of ratings, and some even 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 Tuesday, September 5, 2017.
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $4 price target (versus a $3.76 prior close) at Tudor Pickering. Chesapeake Energy has a consensus analyst target price of $5.22 and a 52-week trading range of $3.55 to $8.20.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) closed up 7.2% at $61.69 on Friday after earnings beat expectations and after some analysts raised their targets. Susquehanna joined in on the upgrades, raising its rating to Positive from Neutral, and it now has a $71 price target. Lululemon has a 52-week range of $47.26 to $72.70 and a consensus price target of $63.79.
Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) was started as Outperform with a $62 price target (versus a $50.62 close) at Credit Suisse. The 52-week range is $37.62 to $51.85, and the consensus price target is $55.16.
United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $31 price objective (versus a $26.99 close) at Merrill Lynch. The stock has a 52-week range of $15.72 to $41.83 and a consensus price target of $27.50. Its shares were up 2.6% at $27.70, but this stock also fell from $31 to under $23 overnight back in April on disappointing earnings and guidance commentary.
Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $116 price target (versus a $101.50 close) at Wells Fargo. Disney has a 52-week range of $90.32 to $116.10 and a consensus price target of $113.54.
YogaWorks Inc. (NASDAQ: YOGA) was up 15% at $3.80 as of Friday’s close, and its post-IPO trading range has been $3.29 to $5.85. YogaWorks was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $7 price target at Cowen. Roth Capital started it with a Buy rating and a $7 price target.
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Other key analyst calls were seen in the following:
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $175 price target (versus a $144.08 close) at JPMorgan.
Calumet Specialty Products Partners L.P. (NASDAQ: CLMT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy but the fair value estimate was raised to $9 from $8.50 (versus an $8.40 close) at Janney. The firm’s largest concern is in the process of being removed with a potential significant reduction of leverage down to a more manageable level.
Finisar Corp. (NASDAQ: FNSR) was maintained as Buy but the price target was cut to $30 from $33 (versus a $23.19 close) at Stifel.
Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: PTEN) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $24 price target (versus a $15.94 close) at JPMorgan.
ProLogis (NYSE: PLD) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $68 price target (versus a $63.78 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW) was started as Outperform with a $135 target price (versus a $115.49 close) at Credit Suisse.
Southern Company (NYSE: SO) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $53 price target (versus a $48.26 close) at Mizuho.
Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) was started as Outperform with an $80 target price (versus a $67.40 close) at Credit Suisse.
Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) was started as Outperform with a $36 target price (versus a $29.86 close) at Credit Suisse.
Tableau Software Inc. (NYSE: DATA) was reiterated as Outperform with a target price of $79 (versus a $72.66 close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm called Tableau the most interesting stock in its growth portfolio from a 12-month perspective, even after its shares have risen 70% this year.
Telefonica S.A. (NYSE: TEF) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI) was reiterated as Buy with a $150 price target (versus a $120.56 close) at Jefferies, noting that Hurricane Harvey may have a near-term and longer term boost to its business for repair and rebuilding.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) started as Outperform with a $130 price target at Credit Suisse. Oppenheimer also reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its price target to $120 from $110 on VMware.
Xoma Corp. (NASDAQ: XOMA) was raised to Outperform with a $19 price target (versus an $11.18 close) at Wedbush. The firm said it drew a line in the sand requiring a deal to validate the new business model of lean operating expenses and licensing revenues and Xoma delivered, and the new target includes potential royalties on gevokizumab and canakinumab for cardiovascular disease sales.
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Friday’s top analyst included Ambarella, Apple, Campbell Soup, Gap, Kinross Gold, Lululemon Athletica, Palo Alto Networks and many more.
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