Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Applied Materials, Comcast, HUYA, Sprint, Time Warner, Yelp and More

Lee Jackson

Published: June 13, 2018 9:15 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 10:25 pm

Futures are trading higher Wednesday morning, as the market continues to digest the historic meeting between President Trump and North Korean Premier Kim Jong Un. Investors are also mulling over AT&T’s big win in merging with Time Warner, which was a blow to the Trump administration. Perhaps the biggest story this morning is whether or not the Federal Reserve will be raising interest rates at today’s meeting. A vast majority on Wall Street think that rates will be lifted by 25 basis points or ¼ of one percent.

Some investors are reconsidering what the nine-year bull market may bring for the rest of 2018 and beyond. It has become very clear that the multiyear trend of buying pullbacks is now more vulnerable to sellers, volatility, and each major news headlines. Many investors are finding it harder to decide how they want their assets positioned for the longer term.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new investing ideas and trading ideas for our readers. Some of the top analyst reports cover stocks to buy. Other analyst calls cover stocks to sell or stocks to avoid.

Additional color and commentary has also been added on some of these daily analyst calls. The 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 Wednesday, June 13, 2018.

ARMO Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: ARMO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $25.10 to $57.19. The Wall Street consensus price target is set at $52.75. The stock closed trading on Tuesday at $49.97.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets with a $55 price target. The Wall Street consensus target for the semiconductor capital equipment giant is posted at $67.73. The shares closed trading on Tuesday at $50.86.

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James. The 52-week trading range is $30.43 to $44. The consensus price target across Wall Street is set at $43.95. The stock closed trading Tuesday at $32.38.

Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE: EXP) is raised to Buy from Neutral at Northcoast. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $86.51 to $122.49. The consensus price target is posted at $127.88. The stock ended trading on Tuesday at $111.93.

Genomic Health Inc. (NASDAQ: GHDX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Ladenburg Thalmann. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $26.54 to $53.66. The consensus price target is $35.24. The shares closed way above that level Tuesday at $50.70.

HUYA Inc. (NYSE: HUYA) was started with a Buy rating at Needham with a $42 price target. The stock has been a red-hot IPO since coming to market last month. Huya is China’s No.1 live streaming game platform with 92.9 million monthly active users and 660,000 broadcasters. Behind HUYA’s rapid growth are strong secular trends in e-sports and live streaming. Since going public at $12, the stock has traded in a range of $15.25 to $37.61. The stock closed Tuesday at $36.22 and is higher in pre-market trading.

Signature Bank (NASDAQ: SBNY) is raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Piper Jaffray. The 52-week trading range for the company is $116.68 to $161.92. The consensus price objective across Wall Street is set at $161.35.

Sprint Corporation (NYSE: S) is raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James with a $7.50 price target. That compares with the consensus price target which is posted at $5.19. The shares closed trading on Tuesday at $5.31.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at MoffettNathanson. On Tuesday a federal judge approved AT&T’s bid to merge with the company. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $85.88 to $103.90. The consensus price target was set at $104.43. The shares closed Tuesday at $96.22, but are trading up over 4% in the pre-markets on the approval.

Yelp Inc. (NASDAQ: YELP) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Aegis Capital. The 52-week trading range is $28.98 to $48.40. The consensus price target is $49.33. The shares closed Tuesday at $42.64, but shares are trading down almost 3% in pre-market action.

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Other key analysts upgrades and downgrades were seen in the following.

Hershey Food Inc. (NYSE: HSY) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse. The 52-week trading range for the venerable chocolate company is $89.10 to $115.82, while the consensus price target is set at $96.16. The shares closed Tuesday at $93.38.

KMG Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: KMG) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets. The 52-week trading range is $45.65 to $79.35. The consensus price target is $73.67. The stock closed trading on Tuesday at $79.26 up almost 13% after reporting earnings.

LexinFintech Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: LX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs. The 52-week trading range is $1.01 to $20. The consensus price target is $20.26. The shares closed Tuesday at $15.91.

Liberty Global plc (NASDAQ: LBTYA) was started with a Sell rating at Berenberg with $26 price target. That compares with the consensus target of $39.11. The stock ended trading on Tuesday at $30.14.

MGIC Investment Corporation (NYSE: MTG) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Merrill Lynch. The 52-week trading range is $9.97 to $16.21. The consensus price target is $14.38. The shares ended trading on Tuesday at $11.28.

Ormat Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ORA) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Guggenheim. The 52-week trading range is $50.43 to $70.68. The consensus price objective on Wall Street is $62.40. The stock closed trading on Tuesday at $51.89.

Science Applications International Corporation (NASDAQ: SAIC) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Drexel Hamilton. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $60.21 to $90.84. The consensus price target is $87.67. With the shares closing at $88.08 this could be a valuation call.

Square Inc. (NYSE: SQ) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Buckingham Research, however they raised their price target on the company to $65 from $55. That compares with a consensus price target of $52.58. The stock ended trading on Tuesday at $63.21 up over 3%.

In case you missed it, here are Tuesday’s Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades. They included Barrick Gold, Buckeye Partners, Interdigital, Penn Virginia, Seaworld, Weight Watchers and more.