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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Bunge, Carbonite, FedEx, Kinder Morgan, Micron, Monster Beverage, Teva, Western Digital and More

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Stocks were indicated to open marginally lower on Thursday morning, and the market has felt a bit directionless of late while it awaits a trade deal with China. Investors need to consider 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 in an effort to find new trading and investing ideas for our readers. Some of the daily analyst reports cover stocks to buy, while others 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 Thursday, March 28, 2019.

Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG) was started with a Neutral rating and assigned a $60 target price (versus a $51.81 close) at JPMorgan. It has a consensus target price of $67.00.

Camping World Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CWH) was started with a Hold rating and a $15 target at Jefferies. The consensus target is higher at $18.39. The stock ended Wednesday at $14.18, up almost 3% on the day.

Carbonite Inc. (NASDAQ: CARB) was started with an Overweight rating and assigned a $30 target price (versus a $24.86 prior close, after a 1.6% drop) at Barclays. The consensus target price is $37.50.

Cedar Fair L.P. (NYSE: FUN) was reiterated with a Buy rating at B. Riley FBR, which lowered its target price to $60 from $61. That compares with a consensus target of $61.22. The amusement park chain closed Wednesday at $53.14 a share.

Cheniere Energy Inc. (NYSE: LNG) saw its price target raised to $87 from $84 at Goldman Sachs, and the shares were also added to the firm’s Conviction Buy List. The Goldman Sachs target compares to the consensus target of $78.38. Shares ended trading Wednesday at $66.44 and were up slightly in the premarket.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) was downgraded to Neutral from Positive at Susquehanna. After closing up 0.5% at $176.09 on Wednesday, its shares were indicated down 1.2% at $174.00 on Thursday. FedEx has a consensus target price of $221.40.

Five Below Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVE) was reiterated as Buy and was added to the prized Conviction Buy List with a $147 price target (versus a $120.01 prior close) at Goldman Sachs. The consensus analyst target is $132.12, and the shares were indicated up 5% at $126.00 in early trading on Thursday.

Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) was maintained as Buy at Goldman Sachs, but the firm removed it from the prized Conviction Buy list. This call is a day after Citigroup downgraded it to Neutral from Buy. Kinder Morgan closed down 0.5% at $19.98 on Wednesday, and the consensus target price was $21.47.

Medicines Co. (NASDAQ: MDCO) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned an $80 price target (versus a $26.97 close) at Robert W. Baird.


Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) closed down 2.7% at $39.23 on Wednesday after Infineon warned and after IHS Market projected weaker DRAM demand trends for 2019. RBC Capital Markets reinstated Micron as Outperform, up from a prior Market Perform rating.

Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: MNST) was reiterated as Outperform and was named as a Top Pick at Credit Suisse.

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB) was started with a Neutral rating at Citigroup.

SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: SEAS) was raised to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley FBR. After closing up 1.6% at $24.62 on Wednesday, its shares were indicated up 2.5% at $25.24 on Thursday morning.

Spirit Airlines Inc. (NYSE: SAVE) saw its target price lowered to $83 from $92 at Imperial Capital. The firm noted that current valuations on the shares are attractive due to rational capacity additions and unit revenue growth driven by higher ancillaries. The consensus price target for the budget airline is $76.38. The stock ended trading on Wednesday at $53.21.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) was started with a Market Perform rating at BMO Capital Markets.

Trex Co. Inc. (NYSE: TREX) was raised to Buy from Hold and the price target was raised to $72 from $70 at Stifel. Shares closed down 4.8% at $59.51 on Wednesday, and the consensus target price is $79.50.

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) was reinstated with an Outperform rating (versus a prior Market Perform rating) at RBC Capital Markets. The stock closed down 3.6% at $45.38 on Wednesday, along with a weak memory and chip sector.

Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNT) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $63 from $58 (versus a $51.54 close) at Wedbush Securities. The consensus target price is $57.71.

Winnebago Industries Inc. (NYSE: WGO) was started with a Hold rating a $31 price target at Jefferies. The consensus target for the recreational vehicle giant is up at $42.20. The stock closed Wednesday at $29.99, up almost 4% on the day.

Sector Reviews: Five retail stocks are blowing away Amazon in performance in 2019, and the Dow Jones industrials may get a new best-performing drug stock. More weak demand trends being forecast for the DRAM market in memory for 2019. Merrill Lynch’s top yielding picks from its key US 1 list.

Wednesday’s top analyst calls were in American Water Works, Boeing, Carnival, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Kinder Morgan, Palo Alto Networks, Ralph Lauren, Square and many more.

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