Stocks were indicated lower on Friday morning, with most of Florida now right in the crosshairs of Hurricane Irma. Investors should keep in mind that the major stock indexes still remain close to all-time highs. They should also consider that investors have kept managing to find new reasons to buy stocks after every sell-off. Many of those same 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. Our goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of the top analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others are reiterations of ratings with target changes. And some of these analyst calls even cover stocks to sell or 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 Friday, September 8, 2017.

Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight and the target price was cut to $83 from $97 (versus a $78.23 prior close) at Morgan Stanley. Capital One has a 52-week trading range of $69.49 to $96.92 and a consensus analyst target price of $95.79.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform with a $250 price target (versus a $317.25 close) at Cowen. Chipotle has a 52-week range of $296.00 to $499.00, and it had a consensus analyst target of $386.48. Shares were indicated down 2.3% at $310.00 after the downgrade, and this $250 target now matches the street-low estimate from analysts.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $136 price target (versus a $118.93 close, after a 1.6% gain) at Goldman Sachs. It has a 52-week range of $73.74 to $122.79 and a consensus target price of $124.81.

E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) was started as Overweight with a $45 price target (versus a $39.49 close) at Barclays. The 52-week range is $25.96 to $42.19. The consensus analyst target is $45.36.

Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) has seen several target price adjustments. Barclays raised its target to $148 from $142. Credit Suisse raised its target to $145 from $128. Instinet raised its price target to $163 from $153. KBW raised its target price to $157 from $149, and Mizuho raised its target to $140 from $130.

PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and the price target was cut to $124 from $126 at Credit Suisse. The firm believes that the risk-reward on PepsiCo is now balanced after the stock has appreciated 11% over the past year and with an accelerated decline of the U.S. beverage business.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) was weak on Thursday and closed down 4.4% at $97.06 on more lower guidance, and its chart and metrics point to perhaps as low as $90 based on recent selling pressure inflection points. Disney shares were maintained as Hold with a $110 price target at Jefferies. Merrill Lynch maintained its Buy rating and $120 price target, noting near-term pain for long-term gains. Disney shares have a 52-week range of $90.32 to $116.10.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) was started as Neutral with a $3.90 price target (versus $3.69 close, after a 2.2% gain) at Goldman Sachs. Zynga has a 52-week range of $2.40 to $3.86 and a consensus target price of $4.18.

Other key analyst calls were seen in the following:

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) was started as Neutral with a $65 price target at Goldman Sachs.

Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A./N.V. (NYSE: BUD) was started with a Buy rating and the beer giant assigned a $136 price target (versus a $121.21 close) at Argus. The firm noted that meaningful growth may be difficult to achieve due to the company’s large size, but first half organic revenue rose strongly from the prior year and the firm believes that at least modest acceleration is sustainable.

AFLAC Inc. (NYSE: AFL) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral but its price objective was maintained at $83 at Merrill Lynch.

American Outdoor Brands Corp. (NASDAQ: AOBC), the parent of Smith & Wesson, was indicated down over 18% at $13.80 to a new 52-week low after gun sales trends remain even worse than expected. The stock was maintained as Hold but the price target was cut to $17 from $20 at Jefferies.

Axovant Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ: AXON) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $30 price target (versus a $21.08 close) at Evercore ISI.

Brighthouse Financial Inc. (NYSE: BHF) was raised to Neutral from Underperform with a $63 price objective at Merrill Lynch, which noted that it has been the weakest life insurance stock since its IPO (down 14%) and it is close to half of book value for a good floor in the stock.

HD Supply Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HDS) was reinstated as Neutral with a $33 price target at Credit Suisse.

Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $5 price target (versus a $4.02 close) at Jefferies.

EchoStar Corp. (NASDAQ: SATS) was started with a Hold rating with a $65 price target at Jefferies.

LivaNova PLC (NASDAQ: LIVN) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $76 price target (versus a $63.20 close) at Jefferies.

Navient Corp. (NASDAQ: NAVI) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, with the firm noting that a cash flow value of $16.50 per share would generate roughly a 30% total return.

Newlink Genetics Corp. (NASDAQ: NLNK) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was ramped to $26 from $7 (versus a $13.60 close) at Jefferies.

Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the price target was raised to $111 from $91 at Credit Suisse.

Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE: SYF) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $118 price target at Goldman Sachs.

Tintri Inc. (NASDAQ: TNTR) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch, noting that a sales reorganization will take time and that its guidance was disappointing. This stock was indicated down 23.6% at $5.10 and that was under its 52-week low of $5.12.

2U Inc. (NASDAQ: TWOU) was reinstated as Outperform with a $58 price target (versus a $54.01 close) at Credit Suisse.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and reiterations included Arch Coal, Editas, FireEye, Generac, NextEra, Under Armour and many more.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.