Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Apple, Broadcom, Charter, Comcast, CommScope, ConEd, Next Era, Rockwell, Transocean and More

Investing

Published: June 14, 2019 9:05 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 7:39 pm

Stocks were indicated to open lower on Friday after weak semiconductor news and weak news about China. With so many nontraditional developments and so many sidebar issues affecting the markets and the economy, investors have to be considering how they want their portfolios and assets positioned for the summer and into late 2019.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

We have provided these calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on some of the calls. 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 on Friday, June 14, 2019.

American Electric Power Co. (NYSE: AEP) was maintained as Equal Weight but the target price was raised to $92 from $88 at Morgan Stanley.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was maintained as Outperform with a $235 target price (versus a $194.19 prior close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm noted that China will be the big focus in the weeks ahead and that so far it thinks the June quarter has been tracking in line with expectations around China iPhone demand after a modest rebound from softness seen in the December/March quarters. Wedbush’s Daniel Ives also said of China:

We believe the stock is currently reflecting and baking in a longer term risk to numbers over the next few years that a dent in the China growth story (e.g. pro Huawei sentiment, etc.) and supply chain tariff driven disruptions are on the horizon which could materially impact the company’s earnings power by 10%-15% over the next few years.

Ashland Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ASH) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight with an $82 target price at JPMorgan.

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO) was maintained as Equal Weight but the target price was lowered to $250 from $262 at Morgan Stanley. KeyBanc Capital Markets maintained its Overweight rating but lowered its target to $310 from $350. Shares were down almost 9% at $256.43 in early indications on Friday after the earnings disappointment, and Broadcom had a $316.61 consensus target price ahead of the earnings news.

CenterPoint Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNP) was maintained as Equal Weight but the price target was raised to $31 from $30 at Morgan Stanley.

Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) was started as Buy with a $480 price target (versus a $389.72 close) at Rosenblatt.

Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) was initiated with a Buy rating and assigned as $50 target price (versus a $41.69 close) at Rosenblatt.

CommScope Holding Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy and the target price was lowered to $21 from $25 (versus a $16.40 close) at Raymond James.

Consolidated Edison Inc. (NYSE: ED) was reiterated as Underweight at Morgan Stanley, but the firm raised its target price to $91 from $87 (versus an $87.78 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) was maintained as Equal Weight but the price target was raised to $100 from $96 (versus an $86.77 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Edison International (NYSE: EIX) was reiterated as Equal Weight but the price target was raised to $87 from $84 (versus a $59.88 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Louisiana-Pacific Corp. (NYSE: LPX) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform and the target price was raised to $28 from $26 (versus a $24.87 close) at BMO Capital Markets.

Medidata Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: MDSO) was downgraded to Sector Weight from Overweight at KeyBanc Capital Markets.

NextEra Energy Inc. (NYSE: NEE) was reiterated as Overweight and the target price was raised to $207 from $194 (versus a $204.77 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK) was reiterated as Underweight and the price target was lowered to $144 from $159 (versus a $159.31 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SPR) was downgraded to Sell from Hold and the target price was lowered to $75 from $93 (versus an $83.52 close) at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup. Transocean closed up 3.3% at $5.68 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $5.45 to $14.47 and with a consensus target price of $12.34.

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Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Abbott Laboratories, CenterPoint Energy, Dominion Energy, Delphi Technologies, Dollar General, Lennar, Lululemon Athletica, Visa, Walt Disney, Zillow and many more.

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