Stocks were indicated to open lower on Friday after trying to stage a strong recovery on Thursday. Investors have faced numerous waves of selling in 2018, and they also have seen lower upside after buying immediately after the big market sell-offs than in prior years. Now is the time for investors to start considering how they want their investments and assets positioned for 2019.

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 of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others 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 Friday, November 16, 2018.

Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC, after shares rose 1.4% to $9.27 on Thursday. The shares were indicated up 2% at $9.45 on Friday, and they have a 52-week trading range of $8.42 to $15.55 and a consensus price target of $14.06.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price objective was cut to $195 from $219  at Merrill Lynch, with the firm noting that 2018 likely is the peak earnings growth and peak operating metrics year. Home Depot shares closed down 1.4% at $177.36 on Thursday and were indicated down 1.9% at $174.00 on Friday. The 52-week range is $166.06 to $215.43, and the consensus price target is $207.24.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Argus, a day after its shares popped up 11.5% to $1.36. The independent research firm’s call was taking almost 6% at $1.28 on Friday, and the 52-week range is $1.04 to $4.75.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) was up 2.6% at $202.39 ahead of earnings, but the stock was down almost 18% at $166.15 after earnings on Friday’s early indications. Goldman Sachs maintained its Buy rating but removed Nvidia from the prized Conviction Buy list and lowered its target price to $200 from $283. The firm B. Riley FBR cut the stock to Neutral from Buy and lowered its price target to $190 from $240.

PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG) was down over 30% at $17.74 on Thursday due to more fears of liabilities from the deadliest wildfire in California history. That said, its shares surged on a report that regulators in California do not want it to go bankrupt even if it is found to be responsible. Morgan Stanley just issued a very late downgrade, cutting PG&E down to Equal Weight from Overweight and slashing the target price to $31 from $67. The 52-week trading range is $17.26 to $55.35.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley. It closed up 2.7% at $55.39 on Thursday but was indicated down 1% at $54.81 on Friday in a sectorwide drop.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $102 price target at Buckingham. KeyBanc Capital Markets started Target as Overweight and assigned a $110 price target. Target closed down 2.8% at $80.76 on Thursday and was indicated down 0.7% at $80.21 on Friday. It also has a 52-week range of $55.25 to $90.39 and a consensus price target of $90.01.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley. The shares were up 1.8% at $38.52 on Thursday but were indicated down 3.9% at $37.00 on Friday. It has a 52-week range of $35.35 to $46.57 and a consensus price target of $47.68.

Weatherford International PLC (NYSE: WFT) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James. Shares were down 0.6% at $0.85 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $0.80 to $4.41.

Yamana Gold Inc. (NYSE: AUY) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC. The stock was up 1.4% at $2.14 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $2.000 to $3.80, and it has a consensus analyst target of $3.86.

Other key analyst calls from this Friday were seen as follows:

Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE: CAH) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Leerink.

Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE: CLB) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim.

Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS) was maintained as Sell at Deutsche Bank, and the firm lowered its price target to $55 from $66.

DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW) was Raised to Neutral from Negative at Susquehanna.

EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG) was Raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Energizer Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ENR) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy in a rare two-notch downgrade at Merrill Lynch. Energizer was down 8.1% at $51.44 on Thursday.

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform with a $135 target price at Raymond James. Citigroup also started IFF with a Neutral rating and assigned a $152 price target. Shares closed up 0.7% at $142.47 on Thursday.

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) was downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Omega Healthcare Investors Inc. (NYSE: OHI) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch. Raymond James also raised it to Outperform from Neutral.

Pembina Pipeline Corp. (NYSE: PBA) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Primo Water Corp. (NASDAQ: PRMW) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $17 target price at BMO Capital Markets. It closed at $14.25 on Thursday, and its consensus target price was already up at $19.20.

Scientific Games Corp. (NASDAQ: SGMS) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

Scorpio Bulkers Inc. (NYSE: SALT) was started with a Buy rating and the price target was set at $8 (versus a $5.71 prior close) at BTIG.

Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH) was downgraded to Underperform from Hold at Jefferies. The shares were down 2.7% at $14.83 on Thursday, and they were down 6.1% at $13.92 on Friday.

Spark Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ONCE) was raised to Neutral from Underperform but the target price was lowered to $44 from $48 (versus a $39.00 close) at Credit Suisse.

SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SSNC) was raised to Buy from Neutral at D.A. Davidson.

Here are four stocks with Buy ratings that are now cheaper than they were at the selling zenith of March 2009 during the Great Recession.

Thursday’s top analyst calls included Alphabet, Amarin, Apple, AutoNation, BlackRock, E*Trade, Etsy, Kellogg and PG&E and many more.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.