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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Barrick Gold, Buffalo Wild Wings, Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, GrubHub, Nabors Industries, Wynn Resorts and More
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Stocks pulled back off of all-time highs this week, but the European Central Bank has announced that it plans to cut its €60 billion worth of bond buying in half, but that it will also extend that buying out to September 2018. That has stocks higher, and U.S. investors are watching for pops in interest rates now more than they have in months. The trend that has prevailed for more than five years is that investors keep finding new reasons to buy stocks after every major sell-off. Those same investors are also hunting for new investing and trading ideas to generate gains and income ahead.
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 the daily analyst reports and research notes cover stocks to buy. Other reports cover stocks to sell or to avoid.
Consensus analyst price target data and valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service. Additional color and commentary has been added on most of these daily analyst calls.
These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Thursday, October 26, 2017.
Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and the price target was cut to $19 from $22 at Credit Suisse. Barrick Gold has a 52-week trading range of $13.81 to $20.78 and a consensus analyst price target of $19.71.
Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) was down 4.1% to $101.15 on Wednesday ahead of earnings, but the stock was last seen up 16% at $117.75 on Thursday. Dougherty raised its rating to Buy from Neutral with a $150 target. Maxim Group reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $160. Credit Suisse maintained its Neutral rating. Buffalo Wild Wings has a 52-week range of $95.00 to $175.10.
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was reiterated as Buy but the price target was raised to $155 from $130 (versus a $136.84 prior close) at Argus, with the firm raising its earnings per share estimates to $6.21 from $4.98 for 2017 and to $8.30 from $6.20 for 2018. Caterpillar has a 52-week range of $80.33 to $140.44 and a consensus price target of $142.10.
Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was reiterated as Equal Weight and the target price was raised to $48 from $47 (versus a $46.05 close) at Morgan Stanley. Credit Suisse reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target price to $51 from $50. Coca-Cola has a 52-week range of $39.88 to $46.98 and a consensus price target of $47.80.
GrubHub Inc. (NYSE: GRUB) was up 11.2% to $57.79 on Wednesday after earnings and was indicated up about 0.5% at $58.06 on Thursday. It was maintained as Overweight and the target price was raised to $63 from $59 at Morgan Stanley. Stifel maintained its Buy rating and raised its target to $63 from $60. Monnes Crespi & Hardt maintained a Sell rating but raised its target to $42 from $35. Credit Suisse maintained its Neutral rating but raised its target to $58 from $53. GrubHub had a previous 52-week range of $42.43 to $57.93 (high hit on Wednesday) and a consensus price target of $56.04.
Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE: NBR) was maintained as Outperform but the price target was lowered to $8.50 from $10.50 at Cowen. Credit Suisse maintained its Outperform rating but lowered its price target to $8 from $9. Nabors has a 52-week range of $5.65 to $18.40, and it had a consensus target price of $9.71.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $163 price target (versus a $143.51 close) at Roth Capital. The 52-week range is $82.51 to $150.40, and the consensus price target is $149.21. Wynn shares were down almost 1% on Wednesday but were indicated back up 0.9% at $144.75 on Thursday.
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Other key analyst calls were seen as follows:
AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $31 price target (versus a $25.75 close) at Citigroup.
Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) was reiterated as Outperform but the price target was raised to $30 from $28 at Credit Suisse, with the firm citing strong earnings and a low tax rate pointing to higher expected earnings.
American Campus Communities Inc. (NYSE: ACC) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $48 price target (versus a $42.31 close) at Argus.
Arconic Inc. (NYSE: ARNC) was reiterated as Buy with a $32 target price (versus a $24.85 close) at Argus.
Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNCE) was started as Buy and assigned a $23 price target (versus a $16.42 close) at Mizuho.
Eldorado Gold Corp. (NYSE: EGO) was downgraded to Underperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets. Shares were down 12.16% at $1.30 on Wednesday and were indicated down up 2.7% at $1.34 on Thursday.
Embraer S.A. (NYSE: ERJ) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
24/7 Wall St.GlaxoSmithKline PLC (NYSE: GSK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $14.50 price target (versus a $13.88 close) at BMO Capital Markets.
Instructure Inc. (NYSE: INST) was started as Market Perform at William Blair.
Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.
Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: PCRX) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Janney.
Regal Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: RGC) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform with a $20 price target (versus a $16.41 close) at RBC Capital Markets.
Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: SAIC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Western Copper and Gold Corp. (NYSE: WRN) was started as Buy with a $2.40 price target (versus a $1.04 close) at Roth Capital.
Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) was maintained as Underweight but the price target was cut to $3.60 from $4.00 (versus a $4.87 close) at Morgan Stanley. The stock was up almost 2% on Wednesday and was indicated to be flat on Thursday.
Wednesday’s top analyst calls included AMD, Apple, Biogen, Capital One, Chipotle Mexican Grill, General Motors, 3M and many more.
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