Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Allstate, CalAmp, Chubb, Costco, Esperion, Flex, Hartford, Nio, Rockwell Automation, Roku and More

Investing

Published: May 29, 2019 8:50 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 8:17 pm

Stocks were indicated to open lower, with the Dow Jones industrials and S&P 500 futures down about 0.7% or so, after a big drop on Tuesday. Many investors have started wondering if they should have listened to the history lessons of “sell in May and go away.” After all, a trade war with China and continued global slowing are weighing on the markets, as is the notion that things are weakening enough that Treasury yields keep falling when the Federal Reserve is not openly ready to reverse the stance of 2018 and embark on rate cuts yet. This all means that investors have to be considering how they want their portfolios positioned for the rest of 2019 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 these daily analyst reports cover stocks to buy, but other 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 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 Wednesday, May 29, 2019.

Acceleron Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: XLRN) was started as Neutral and assigned a $54 price target at Goldman Sachs. Shares closed flat at $42.04, in a 52-week range of $32.53 to $59.59. The consensus target price is $58.83.

Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the target price was raised to $110 from $106 (versus a $95.09 prior close) at Goldman Sachs. Shares closed down 1.3% at $95.09. It has a 52-week range of $77.00 to $102.73 and a consensus target price of $106.21.

American Campus Communities Inc. (NYSE: ACC) was downgraded to Market Perform from Market Outperform at JMP Securities. Shares closed flat at $47.28. It has a 52-week range of $38.40 to $48.49 and a consensus target price of $48.30.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Seaport Global.

Anchiano Therapeutics Ltd. (NASDAQ: ANCN) was started as Outperform and assigned a $12 target price at Robert W. Baird. Shares closed down 1% at $4.90. It has a 52-week range of $4.72 to $11.50 and a consensus target price of $20.00.

CalAmp Corp. (NASDAQ: CAMP) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral and the price target was lowered to $11 from $13 at Goldman Sachs. Shares closed down 3% at $12.18, in a 52-week range of $10.91 to $24.52 and with a consensus target price of $17.38.

Chubb Ltd. (NYSE: CB) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and the price target was lowered to $156 from $165 at Compass Point. Shares closed down 1% at $146.46, in a 52-week range of $119.54 to $148.70 and with a consensus target price of $152.35.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) was downgraded to Hold from Accumulate at a firm called Gordon Haskett. Shares closed down 0.4% at $246.31. The 52-week range is $189.51 to $251.01, and the consensus target price is $250.17.

Corvus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CRVS) was started as Buy and assigned a $5 price target (versus a $3.90 close) at Roth Capital.

Esperion Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ESPR) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral with a $50 price target at Goldman Sachs. Shares closed down 0.9% at $51.88. The 52-week range is $36.06 to $60.99, and the consensus target price is $86.23.

Falcon Minerals Corp. (NASDAQ: FLMN) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $10 target price (versus a $7.34 close) at Stifel. The 52-week range is $6.71 to $11.70, and the market cap is $630 million.

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Five Prime Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: FPRX) was started as Neutral and assigned a $10 target price (versus $8.73 close) at Roth Capital. It has a $315 million market cap and a 52-week range of $7.84 to $18.55.

Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) was raised to Overweight from Neutral with a $12 price target at JPMorgan. Shares closed down 0.4% at $9.23, in a 52-week range of $6.74 to $15.38. The consensus analyst target is $14.07.

Forty Seven Inc. (NASDAQ: FTSV) was started as Buy and assigned an $18 target price (versus a $12.49 close) at Roth Capital.

General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs. Shares closed down 3.3% at $51.09. The stock has a 52-week range of $36.42 to $53.66 and a consensus target price of $50.20.

Global Blood Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: GBT) was started as Neutral and assigned a $75 target price (versus a $60.97 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE: GVA) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the target price was raised to $53 from $50 (versus a $40.11 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: HIG) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the price target was raised to $64 from $53 at Goldman Sachs. Shares closed down 1.5% at $52.46, in a 52-week range of $40.54 to $54.28. The consensus target price is $58.24.

National Vision Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: EYE) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $38 target price (versus a $27.36 close) at Berenberg.

Nio Inc. (NYSE: NIO) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Merrill Lynch. Shares closed up 3.6% at $4.00, in a 52-week range of $3.81 to $13.80. The consensus analyst target is $7.64.

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Radius Health Inc. (NASDAQ: RDUS) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the target price was raised to $38 from $26 (versus a $21.23 close) at Goldman Sachs.

Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $160 price target at Gabelli. Shares closed down 2.1% at $151.57. The 52-week range is $141.46 to $198.23, and the consensus target price is $178.15.

Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) fell over 7% to $88.83 on Tuesday after a firm called Stephens downgraded its rating to Equal Weight based on more risk than implied reward. Roku was indicated up 1% at $89.70 after Needham raised its target to $120 (a street-high from analysts) from $85 based on unique advantages as an aggregator rather than as a streaming service that makes its own content too.

Total System Services Inc. (NYSE: TSS) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

UroGen Pharma Ltd. (NASDAQ: URGN) was started with a Neutral rating and assigned a $50 target price (versus a $36.49 close) at Goldman Sachs.

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