Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Avis Budget, Blue Apron, Chipotle, Domino's, Northrop Grumman, Pepsi, Rio Tinto, T-Mobile, Valero and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: February 14, 2018 9:15 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 3:24 am

Volatility is back, with another day of gains rapidly turning into strong selling pressure with consumer prices indicating hotter than expected inflation. Some signals were already pointing to this, but efficient market theory has been dead for quite some time. The bull market is now just three weeks shy of being nine years old, and the one trend that has served investors huge rewards for over five years now has been to buy the pullbacks.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some analyst reports and research reports cover stocks to buy. Others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional color and commentary has been added on most of the daily analyst reports. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters sell-side research service.

These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and other research calls from Wednesday, February 14, 2018.

Avis Budget Group Inc. (NYSE: CAR) was downgraded to Sell from an already cautious Neutral rating with a $33 price target (versus a $40.12 prior close) at Goldman Sachs. The shares were down 1.6% on Tuesday and were last seen down 7% at $37.30 after the downgrade. Their 52-week trading range is $20.71 to $49.41, and the consensus analyst target was $43.50.

Blue Apron Holdings Inc. (NYSE: APRN) was maintained as Hold and the price target was cut to $4 from $6 (versus a $3.35 close) at Stifel.

Brunswick Corp. (NYSE: BC) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $70 price target (versus a $57.54 close) at Wedbush Securities.

Carlyle Group L.P. (NYSE: CG) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $27 price target (versus a $23.45 close) at Jefferies.

Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE: CRL) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $125 price target (versus a $107.66 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform with an $80 price target (versus a $70.38 close) at RBC Capital Markets.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) was maintained as Neutral with a $285 price target (versus a $254.45 close) at Wedbush, with the call being after Chipotle hired Brian Niccol as CEO, who was formerly the CEO of Yum Brands’ Taco Bell. Credit Suisse maintained its Neutral rating.

Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $119 price target (versus a $105.12 close) at Citigroup.

Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $230 from $220 (versus a $208 close) at Oppenheimer.

Endurance International Group Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: EIGI) was maintained as Outperform but the price target was cut to $9 from $12 (versus a $7.35 close) at Oppenheimer.

FMC Corp. (NYSE: FMC) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $95 price target (versus an $81.86 close) at Citigroup. Credit Suisse maintained its Outperform rating but trimmed its target price to $106 from $111.

Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC) was maintained as Hold and the price target was cut to $49 from $50 at Stifel.

Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) was started as Neutral with a $106 price target at JPMorgan.

HubSpot Inc. (NYSE: HUBS) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $105 from $103 (versus a $97.00 close) at Oppenheimer.

JELD-WEN Holdings Inc. (NYSE: JELD) was started as Neutral at Citigroup.

Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $190 from $165.

Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: NBIX) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $100 from $95 (versus an $83.69 close) at Oppenheimer.

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Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $400 price target (versus a $343.36 close) at Jefferies.

Okt Inc. (NASDAQ: OKTA) was started as Buy with a $38 price target (versus a $31.57 close) at Needham.

Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ: PTEN) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $24 price target (versus a $17.80 close) at BMO Capital Markets.

Pepsico Inc. (NYSE: PEP) was downgraded to In-Line from Outperform at Evercore ISI. Pepsico shares closed up 0.2% at $112.14 on Tuesday, and the consensus target price is $125.09. The 52-week range is $104.77 to $122.51.

Post Holdings Inc. (NYSE: POST) was started as Overweight with a $90 price target (versus a $72.36 close) at Barclays.

Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE: RIO) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $61 from $52 at Argus, with the firm raising its 2018 earnings forecast to $4.90 from $4.49 per American depositary share and setting a 2019 estimate of $5.03.

S&P Global Financial Inc. (NYSE: SPGI) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $210 from $178 (versus a $181.94 close) at Argus.

Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: TTPH) was last seen down almost 50% at $2.75 after a drug in Phase 3 trials failed to meet a number of endpoints. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Tetraphase to Market Perform from Outperform. Stifel slashed its target price to $6 from $13. The previous 52-week range was $4.91 to $6.97.

T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) was reiterated as Buy with a target price of $78 (versus a $57.69 close) at Argus. The independent research firm believes that T-Mobile remains the best positioned of the national carriers to take market share through another handset adoption and upgrade super-cycle, even as industry competitive conditions have normalized.

Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $152 price target (versus a $128.30 close) at Citigroup.

Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $114 price target (versus an $89.48 close) at Citigroup.

Merrill Lynch has issued an update to its late-January call that noted its technical sell signal due to such crazy inflows into stocks in January. Its February RIC report was released, and Merrill Lynch noted several issues. They call stocks as being down but not out, and the firm sticks with its view on equities over bonds. This is considered a pullback rather than the peak, and they believe the Federal Reserve will look past the recent market gyrations. They even noted that market volatility is normal and was overdue as the market fundamentals remain supportive. While growth is key to the thesis, the firm did note that interest rates and the dollar could add to volatility. The more worrisome issue would be rising deficits bear market signposts.

Tuesday’s top analyst calls were in shares of ADT, CBOE, Celgene, JPMorgan, 3M, NetApp, Total, Tyson Foods, Weatherford and many more.