Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Akamai, Analog Devices, Enphase, LivePerson, NCR, Nu Skin, Tiffany, Valero and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: March 25, 2019 8:45 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 10:56 pm

Stocks were indicated to open marginally lower on Monday as concerns about global growth continue to outweigh the end of the Mueller investigation. Friday’s sell-off seemed excessive, but the stock market has recovered so much in 2019 that a sell-off is also warranted. Now investors need to be considering how they want their investments and assets positioned for the rest of the year and beyond.

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

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

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Monday, March 25, 2019.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Analog Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein. It closed down 2.5% at $107.40 ahead of the downgrade and was indicated down another 0.5% at $106.89 after the call. The 52-week trading range is $76.62 to $111.12, and the consensus target price is $114.53.

CalAmp Corp. (NASDAQ: CAMP) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight with a $17 target price (versus a $12.24 prior close) at JPMorgan.

Digital Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: DLR) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform with a $120 target price (versus a $119.12 close) at Raymond James.

Enphase Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH) was started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Hibbett Sports Inc. (NASDAQ: HIBB) was raised to Positive from Neutral at Susquehanna, after a 20% gain to $21.70.

LivePerson Inc. (NASDAQ: LPSN) was started as Overweight with a $39 target price (versus a $28.20 close, after a 4.7% drop) at Piper Jaffray.

Magenta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MGTA) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. (NYSE: MAA) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and the target price was raised to $120 from $102 (versus a $107.94 close) at BMO Capital Markets.

Mirati Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: MRTX) was started as Outperform and assigned an $85 target price (versus a $73.23 close) at Credit Suisse.

NCR Corp. (NYSE: NCR) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight with a $32 target price (versus a $27.17 close) at JPMorgan. The 52-week range is $20.93 to $32.46, and the consensus target price is $34.83.

Nightstar Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ: NITE) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight and the target price was lowered to $26 from $28 (versus a $25.29 close) at Barclays.

Nu Skin Enterprise, Inc. (NYSE: NUS) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Stifel based on rising China regulatory concerns. Shares closed down about 5% at $49.28 on Friday and were indicated down another 2.6% at $48.00 on Monday. The consensus target price was $77.88, and the stock’s prior 52-week range was $49.22 to $88.68.

Signature Bank (NASDAQ: SBNY) was added to the Best Ideas List at Wedbush Securities, while Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ: CATY) was removed. Signature Bank was called one of the best-positioned banks to benefit from the more dovish Federal Reserve stance looking ahead.

SolarEdge Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SEDG) was started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $115 from $108 (versus a $103.21 close, after a 3% gain) at Credit Suisse.

Treehouse Foods Inc. (NYSE: THS) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $70 from $55 (versus a $61.34 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) was reiterated as Outperform and added to the Top Picks List at Credit Suisse. The stock was down 2% at $84.63 on Friday and was indicated up 0.5% at $85.10 on Monday, with a consensus target price of $106.82 and a 52-week trading range of $68.81 to $126.98.

Vistra Energy Corp. (NYSE: VST) was started with an Overweight rating and assigned a $35 target price (versus a $25.98 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Societe Generale now sees the United States falling into a recession in 2020, following excesses of the fiscal package and the damage done by the trade policy after the Treasury yield curve inverted last week.

Analysts have five stocks under $5 with big implied upside of their scenarios work out.

Despite the sell-off, there were seven blue chips with big implied upside and Buy ratings issued last week.

As recession fears are growing, check out 15 defensive stocks that will survive the next recession.

Friday’s top analyst calls included Best Buy, Biogen, China Mobile, Chipotle Mexican Grill, CNOOC, Conagra Brands, Kinder Morgan, Lumentum, Nike, Toll Brothers and many more.