Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Baker Hughes, CBS, Generac, Halliburton, Nike, PG&E, Snap, Tesla, Weatherford, Western Digital and More

Investing

Published: September 11, 2018 9:10 am

Last Updated: January 11, 2020 6:07 pm

Stocks were indicated to open lower on Tuesday morning as continued profit-taking in September is a theme. Despite the choppy markets, it’s important to know that the major stock market indexes are still quite close to all-time highs. Investors also need to consider that buying the sell-offs has so far in 2018 been less rewarding than in prior years.

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, but some cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

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

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Tuesday, September 11, 2018.

American Electric Power Co. (NYSE: AEP) was reiterated as Overweight and the target price was raised to $80 from $76 at Morgan Stanley.

Baker Hughes, a GE Company (NYSE: BHGE) was started as Buy and assigned a $40 target price (versus a $31.93 prior close) at Stifel.

Caesars Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ: CZR) was started as Outperform and the price target was set at $13 (versus a $9.85 close) at Credit Suisse.

CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the target price was cut to $60 from $72 at UBS. The stock was down 1.5% at $55.20 on Monday and down another 0.5% at $54.90 in early indications on Tuesday.

Energen Corp. (NYSE: EGN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus, with the independent research firm citing the Diamondback Energy buyout.

Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNRC) was reiterated as Hold but the price target was raised to $62 from $56 (versus a $58.83 close) at Canaccord Genuity.

Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) was started as Buy and assigned a $45 price target at Stifel.

Myriad Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN) was trading lower after being maintained as Underweight and after the price target was cut to $25 from $30 at Barclays. Its shares were indicated down 4.5% at $44.64 in early indications as the brokerage firm expressed concerns with GeneSight’s potential for expanding its market.

National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) was started as Buy and the price target was set at $54 at Stifel.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $95 from $78 at Canaccord Genuity.

Novartis A.G. (NYSE: NVS) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.

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PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $67 from $63 at Morgan Stanley.

Plains GP Holdings L.P. (NYSE: PGAP) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price objective was raised to $30 from $26 at Merrill Lynch.

Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST) was started as Equal Weight with a $106 price target (versus a $97.91 close) at Barclays.

Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) was started with a Hold rating at Stifel.

Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the target price was raised to $12.25 from $11.50 at Wedbush.

SunRun Inc. (NASDAQ: RUN) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price objective was raised to $17 from $16 (versus an $11.95 close) at Merrill Lynch. The firm believes that its recent underperformance ignores improving data points in California and in financing.

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was lowered to $300 from $400 at Noimura/Instinet. The reason: Elon Musk’s recent behavior damaging the Tesla brand.

TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) was started as Equal Weight at Barclays.

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US Silica Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SLCA) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $26 target price (versus a $19.12 close) at Stifel.

Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT) was started with a Hold rating at Stifel. Shares were up 3.5% at $2.38 on Monday and were indicated up almost 3% on Tuesday morning.

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform and the target price was lowered to $70 from $95 at RBC Capital Markets.

Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ: WING) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was raised to $66 from $58 (versus a $67.48 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL) was reiterated as Overweight and the target was raised to $52 from $49 (versus a $49.01 close) at Morgan Stanley.

24/7 Wall St. has identified seven large international stock picks that analysts call to have big upside for U.S. investors willing to look at discounted overseas stocks.

Monday’s top analyst calls were in Amazon.com, Anthem, Constellation Brands, Hecla Mining, Nike, Overstock.com, UnitedHealth and many more.

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