Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: GrubHub, Kroger, Newell Brands, Seagate, Snap, Sony, WEX, FireEye and More

courtesy of Jon Ogg

Stocks were indicated to open sharply higher on Monday, with Hurricane Irma having drifted westward in Florida just enough to cause far less financial damage than what had been expected on Thursday and Friday. There was also no major negative news from North Korea over the weekend.

Investors have to keep in mind that the major stock indexes still remain close to all-time highs. Another issue that cannot be ignored is that investors have kept managing to find new reasons to buy stocks after every sell-off, a trend that is over five years old in this eight-and-a-half-year bull market. 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 to find new investing and trading ideas for our readers. Some of the top analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while 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, September 11, 2017.

GrubHub Inc. (NYSE: GRUB) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform but its price target was raised to $53 from $50 (versus a $56.08 prior close) at Credit Suisse. The firm feels the street is too optimistic on risk-reward on recent acquisitions. GrubHub has a 52-week trading range of $32.43 to $57.61 and a consensus analyst target price of $52.89.

Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was cut to $21 from $26 (versus a $21.06 close) at Deutsche Bank. Kroger has a 52-week range of $20.41 to $36.44 and a consensus target price of $25.23. Kroger’s drop was 7.5% on Friday, and it was indicated down another 1% at $20.85 on Monday morning.

Newell Brands Inc. (NYSE: NWL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was cut to $49 from $63 (versus a $44.04 close) at Jefferies. It has a 52-week range of $43.43 to $55.08 and a consensus analyst target of $57.81. Jefferies noted that the valuation is low, but visibility is low after another lower guide, and Newell also needs more reinvestment at a time that the cascade of negative revisions is worrisome.

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $29 price target (versus a $31.99 close) at Jefferies. The consensus target price is $38.48, and the 52-week range is $30.60 to $50.96. Seagate’s drop was 1.1% on Friday, and its shares were indicated down another 2.25% at $31.27 on Monday.

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) was downgraded to Hold from Buy and the price target was cut to $17 from $20 (versus a $15.34 close) at Deutsche Bank. Snap has a 52-week range of $11.28 to $29.44, and it had a consensus target price of $14.78.

Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup. Sony’s American depositary shares were up 1.3% to $39.93 on Friday and were indicated up 1.7% at $40.60 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $27.72 to $41.65. The consensus price target is almost $47.

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Other top analyst calls were seen in the following companies:

Allegheny Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ATI) was raised to Buy from Underperform at Merrill Lynch, and it raised its price objective to $24 from $16 (versus a $20.51 close).

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and the price target was raised to $16 from $13 (versus a $13.05 close) at Cowen.

Arch Capital Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: ACGL) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $106 price target (versus a $94.32 close) at Buckingham Research.

Array BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $15 from $13 (versus a $10.98 close) at Stifel.

Banco Bradesco S.A. (NYSE: BBD) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $12.40 price target (versus a $10.99 close) at Goldman Sachs.

FireEye Inc. (NASDAQ: FEYE) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $22 price target (versus a $16.01 close) at Stephens.

Grupo Financiero Santander México SAB de C.V. (NYSE: BSMX) was raised to Neutral from Sell with a $10.60 price target (versus a $10.13 close) at Goldman Sachs.

ICON PLC (NASDAQ: ICLR) was started with a Buy rating and was given a $128 price objective (versus a $115.10 close) at Merrill Lynch.

MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with a $36 price target (versus a $33.25 close) at Deutsche Bank.

NewLink Genetics Corp. (NASDAQ: NLNK) was up 29.9% at $17.67 on Friday, and shares were indicated up another 2.9% at $18.18 on Monday. It was reiterated as Buy at Stifel and the price target was raised to $29 from $14.

ONEOK Inc. (NYSE: OKE) was started with a Neutral rating and assigned a $58 price target (versus a $56.22 close) at JPMorgan.

Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $79 price target (versus a $76.80 close) at Instinet.

Sabre Corp. (NASDAQ: SABR) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was cut to $20 from $25 (versus a $17.69 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Teradata Corp. (NYSE: TDC) was started with a Hold rating at Needham.

WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $126 price target (versus a $108.31 close) at Goldman Sachs

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Capital One, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Electronic Arts, E*Trade, Mastercard, PepsiCo, Walt Disney, Zynga and many more stocks.

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