Stocks have been volatile lately, and this Monday was looking to be a positive day despite the geopolitical uncertainty after bombing targets in Syria. The bull market may now be over nine years old, but the trend of buying pullbacks has become much more vulnerable to sellers, volatility and each major news headline. Many investors are finding it hard to decide how they want their assets positioned for the rest of 2018 and beyond.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to find new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy and some 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 Monday, April 16, 2018.

American Electric Power Co. Inc. (NYSE: AEP) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $73 from $71 (versus a $67.34 prior close) at Morgan Stanley.

American Water Works Co. Inc. (NYSE: AWK) was raised to Buy from Neutral and was the price target was raised to $92 from $87 at Janney. The firm adjusted its valuation to reflect the impact of its Pivotal Home Solutions acquisition.

BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs. Shares closed up 1.2% at $46.80 and were indicated up 0.2% at $46.90 on Monday, in a 52-week trading range of $33.37 to $50.79.

Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James. The stock was down 1% at $42.02 on Friday and was indicated down 1.5% at $41.40 on Monday.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) was reiterated as Equal Weight but the price target was raised to $400 from $375 (versus a $329.28 close) at Morgan Stanley. Boeing has a 52-week range of $175.47 to $371.60.

BorgWarner Inc. (NYSE: BWA) was started as Outperform and assigned a $60 target price at Cowen. This is after a 1.3% drop to $52.86 on Friday, and it compares with a 52-week range of $38.04 to $58.22.

Boston Beer Co. Inc. (NYSE: SAM) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs. The stock was down 1.16% at $212.65 on Friday, and it has a 52-week range of $128.70 to $219.23.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo. Costco shares closed up nine cents at $188.91 on Friday, and the shares were indicated up 1.3% at $191.42 on Monday.

Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) was downgraded to Negative from Neutral at Susquehanna. Shares were down almost 3% at $16.27 on Friday, and the stock was indicated down 4.9% at $15.47 on Monday.

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Delphi Technologies PLC (NYSE: DLPH) was started as Outperform and assigned a $64 price target (versus a $49.01 close) at Cowen.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs. Its shares closed down 1.5% at $70.54 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $57.50 to $81.93.

Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James. The stock closed down almost 1% at $97.13 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $65.63 to $116.65.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James. It closed down 0.6% at $96.28 on Friday. The 52-week range is $65.97 to $105.82.

Endocyte (NASDAQ: ECYT) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $15 from a prior $7 price target (versus a $9.52 close) at Wedbush Securities. This is after the survival benefit was affirmed in its PSMA-617 in mCRPC (prostate cancer).

Impax Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: IPXL) was maintained as Market Perform but the price target was raised to $20 from $18 (versus an $18.35 close) at BMO Capital Markets.

ITT Inc. (NYSE: ITT) was maintained as Buy but the price target was lowered to $59 from $62 (versus a $51.26 close) at Stifel. ITT has a 52-week range of $36.93 to $57.62 and consensus price target of $58.00.

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: LXRX) was maintained as Outperform with a $40 price target at Wedbush after its R&D day updated potentially expanded uses on Xermello and other candidates. The shares closed at $8.09 on Friday.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Stephens. McDonald’s closed at $161.73 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $130.91 to $178.70 and with a consensus target price of $187.04.

National Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: FIZZ) was started as Outperform with a $125 price target (versus an $89.49 close) at Imperial Capital. The 52-week range is $81.65 to $129.82 and the consensus target price is $100.50.

Pure Storage Inc. (NYSE: PSTG) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $24 price target (versus an $18.78 close, after a 2.3% drop) Deutsche Bank. The shares were indicated up 2.1% at $19.18 on Monday.

Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ: TSCO) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs. This stock closed down 3.1% at $58.32 on Friday but was indicated up 2.9% at $60.00 on Monday.

Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ: ULTA) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim. It closed up 1.4% at $220.88 on Friday, and the shares were indicated up 2.1% at $225.60 on Monday. The 52-week range is $187.96 to $314.86, and the consensus target price is $250.30.

Friday’s top analyst calls included BBVA, Bed Bath & Beyond, Dropbox, Eli Lilly, Netflix, Procter & Gamble, Splunk Starbucks and many more.

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