Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, China Mobile, Duke Energy, Facebook, JetBlue, Oracle, Spirit Air, TCR2, Vivint Solar and More

Investing

Published: March 11, 2019 8:40 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 11:41 pm

Stocks were indicated to have a mixed open, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures up, but Dow Jones industrial average futures were lower due to a 10% drop in Boeing shares after another plane crash. The recent selling in stocks was after the Dow had rallied some 3,500 points from its lows at the start of the year. Investors have to be considering how they want their investments and assets positioned for the rest of 2019.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. The goal is to find new investing and trading ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while some of the analyst reports cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

Additional commentary and trading data have been added on some of the daily analyst reports. The consensus analyst price targets mentioned and other valuation metrics are from the Thomson Reuters (Refinitiv) sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday, March 11, 2019.

Anchiano Therapeutics Ltd. (NASDAQ: ANCN) was started as Outperform and assigned a $16 target price (versus a $7.80 prior close) at Oppenheimer. This is a thin volume company with a mere $60 million market cap, and its 52-week trading range is $7.33 to $11.50.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch, which raised its price objective to $210 from $180 (versus a $172.91 close) in the call. Merrill Lynch sees the risk/reward and valuation as favorable and is now bullish over inventory reductions and order cuts stabilizing, better China services, a revision overshoot on estimates, increased services penetration, competitor pricing, a loyal user base and strong cash flows.

China Biologic Product Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CBPO) was downgraded to Underperform from Hold at Jefferies.

China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE: CHL) was raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.

Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) was maintained as Neutral but the price objective was raised to $91 from $89 at Merrill Lynch.

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised to $215 from $175 (versus a $169.60 close) at Nomura/Instinet. The shares have a 52-week range of $123.02 to $218.62 and a consensus target price of $195.52.

FireEye Inc. (NASDAQ: FEYE) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $20 price target (versus a $16.10 close) at JPMorgan, with the firm talking about strong billings and conservative guidance understating the growth upside. The consensus target price is $20.30, and a 52-week trading range is $14.20 to $20.61.

Greenbrier Companies Inc. (NYSE: GBX) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. (NYSE: HPP) was raised to Buy from Neutral with a $40 target price (versus a $33.27 close) at Goldman Sachs.

JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays. After closing down 0.7% at $16.08 on Friday, it was indicated down 1.7% at $15.80 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $15.19 to $22.80. The consensus target price is $20.66.

Keane Group Inc. (NYSE: FRAC) was started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Kilroy Realty Corp. (NYSE: KRC) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the target price was raised to $81 from $80 at Goldman Sachs.

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New York Community Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: NYCB) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with an $11.50 target price (versus a $12.22 close) at Morgan Stanley. The consensus analyst target is $11.87.

Oceaneering International Inc. (NYSE: OII) was started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) was downgraded to Reduce from Buy and the target price was lowered to $42 from $53 (versus a $52.77 close) at Nomura/Instinet. The stock has a 52-week range of $42.40 to $53.48 and a consensus target price of $52.45.

PGT Innovations Inc. (NYSE: PGTI) was raised to Overweight from Sector Weight with a $20 price target at KeyBanc Capital Markets. It closed up 0.8% at $14.16 on Friday and was indicated up 2.6% at $14.53 on Monday, with a consensus target price of $22.67.

Spirit Airlines Inc. (NYSE: SAVE) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight with a $70 target price (versus a $51.68 close) at Barclays. The consensus target price is $76.06. The 52-week trading range is $34.36 to $65.35.

SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight and the price target was lowered to $73 from $80 (versus a $63.49 close) at Morgan Stanley. It has a 52-week range of $46.05 to $75.08 and a consensus target price of $71.20.

Superior Energy Services Inc. (NYSE: SPN) was started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

TCR2 Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: TCRR) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $28 price target (versus a $15.64 close, after a 13% drop) at Wedbush Securities. The shares were called undervalued based on the firm’s positive outlook on its “differentiated and potentially best-in-class CAR-T cell platform” for both solid tumor and hematologic malignancies, and the price target is a sum-of-parts valuation for each of the company’s three clinical or near-clinical programs. BMO Capital Markets also started it as Outperform, with a $37 target, and Jefferies started it with a Buy rating and $31 price target.

Trinity Industries Inc. (NYSE: TRN) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

UDR Inc. (NYSE: UDR) was downgraded to Sell from an already cautious Neutral rating, and its target price was lowered to $39 from $43 (versus a $44.89 close), at Goldman Sachs. The consensus target price is $44.59.

Vivint Solar Inc. (NYSE: VSLR) was reiterated as Buy and the price objective was raised to $10.00 from $9.50 (versus a $4.75 close) at Merrill Lynch. The firm sees the shares as undervalued after a meaningfully positive update, with stronger deployments, better marketing channels and scaling residential solar. The consensus target price is $8.05.

Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform with a $32 target price (versus a $24.66 close) at BMO Capital Markets.

Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Pivotal Research.

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