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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Acushnet, Delta, Devon Energy, Edison International, Hertz, Royal Caribbean, Sociedad Quimica, Zscaler and Many More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: March 1, 2019 8:50 am

Last Updated: January 31, 2020 12:04 am

Stocks were indicated to open handily higher on Friday after a small drop on Thursday. Some investors are scratching their heads after the violent sell-off at the end of 2018 instantly turned back around with a V-bottom bounce that became an equally violent rally, with the Dow Jones industrials rising more than 3,000 points off the lows at the start of the year. Investors still have to deal with mixed news reports, trade policies, peace negotiations, politics and slightly less robust business coverage. Investors also should be considering how they want their assets positioned for the rest of 2019 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 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 Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

Just like that, the first two months of 2019 have come and gone. These were the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Friday, March 1, 2019.

Acushnet Holdings Corp. (NYSE: GOLF) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Compass Point, but KeyBanc Capital Markets reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its price target to $28 from $26. Shares closed at $24.91, in a 52-week range of $20.24 to $27.87. The consensus target price is $25.41.

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank. Shares closed at $35.63. The 52-week range is $28.81 to $57.44, and the consensus analyst target is $45.78.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) also was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank. Shares closed at $49.58, The consensus target price is $62.68, and the 52-week trading range is $45.08 to $61.32.

Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform and its target price was lowered to $38 from $39 (versus a $29.51 prior close) at RBC Capital Markets.

Edison International (NYSE: EIX) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch. The stock closed at $59.89 and has a 52-week range of $45.50 to $71.00. The consensus target price is $66.50.

Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein, a day after JPMorgan raised it to Overweight from Neutral. Shares closed up 10.7% at $19.67 ahead of Friday’s call.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight but the price target was raised to $18 from $14 at Barclays. Shares closed at $19.10, in a 52-week range of $13.01 to $22.70 and with a consensus target price of $22.00.

L Brands Inc. (NYSE: LB) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

Nutanix Inc. (NASDAQ: NTNX) was last seen down 21% at $10.60 on over 3 million shares traded in Thursday’s after-hours session. It was downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer, to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo and to Hold from Buy at Stifel.

O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight but the price target was raised to $400 from $370 (versus a $371.96 close) at Atlantic Equities.

Party City Holdco Inc. (NYSE: PRTY) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the price target was lowered to $12 from $14 at JPMorgan. Shares closed at $10.41. The 52-week range is $8.24 to $16.95. The consensus target price is $14.50.

Prologis Inc. (NYSE: PLD) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird. Shares closed at $70.06, in a 52-week range of $55.21 to $71.92. The consensus analyst target is $72.18.

Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE: RIO) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC. The stock closed at $58.20, and it has a consensus target price of $62.12 and a 52-week trading range of $44.62 to $60.72.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) was added to the Wedbush Best Ideas List as it was called the best overall company in the cruise space with the best opportunity for risk-adjusted returns over the next two years. The firm sees upside to estimates and also sees a meaningful opportunity for an earnings multiple expansion with a large and unjustified discount to the market. Royal Caribbean replaced Argenx S.E. (NASDAQ: ARGX) on that Best Ideas List.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE: SQM) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight and the price target was lowered to $43 from $51 (versus a $41.22 close) at JPMorgan. Its consensus target price was $52.64 ahead of this call.

Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS) was last seen trading up over 15% at $57.50 in Thursday’s after-hours session after solid earnings. Wedbush has reiterated its Outperform rating and raised its target to $68 from $53, noting that total revenue growing 65% and billings accelerating 74% year over year handily beat consensus expectations.

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Credit Suisse’s technical analysis team issued a note on Thursday suggesting that the S&P 500 recovery is starting to stall at key flagged resistance levels of at 2,800 and 2,815, and the firm is looking for a market cap around this level. It also noted that oil is the other key risk to its outlook for U.S. Equities to top out here, as Brent and WTI crude oil maintain a “head & shoulders” base. There is also a risk that the U.S. dollar may be forming a large bearish head and shoulders top.

Also check out 10 big stocks with 50 or more consecutive years of dividend hikes.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included American Tower, Atlassian, Booking, Box, Dollar General, Fitbit, Hain Celestial, HP, Regions Financial and many more.