Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Deere, Dunkin', Fortinet, Occidental, Splunk, Spotify, UTC and More

Lee Jackson

Published: June 24, 2019 8:50 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 7:22 pm

The futures looked slightly higher on Monday morning as investors continue to process the record-setting levels the S&P 500 hit last week. All eyes are focused on the G-20 meeting this week in Osaka, Japan, where President Trump is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi to discuss trade and hopefully come to some agreements. Investors should be considering how they want their portfolios and assets positioned for the second half of 2019 and beyond.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is 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 come from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Monday, June 24, 2019.

3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) was raised to Neutral from Sell at B. Riley FBR, which has an $8 price target for the stock. That compares with the Wall Street consensus target price of $9.50. The shares were last seen on Friday at $8.95 apiece.

AGCO Corp. (NYSE: AGCO) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies with a price target raised to $90. The consensus price target is $72.80. The stock closed Friday at $74.74.

Concert Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: CNCE) was started with a Buy rating at SunTrust, which has a $30 price target for the stock. That compares with a much lower consensus target of $21.14. The shares closed trading on Friday at $10.91 but were up almost 15% in the premarket.

Deere Inc. (NYSE: DE) was raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies, with a price target raised to $190 as well. The consensus price target is $157.50. Shares closed way above that consensus on Friday at $164.28.

Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DNKN) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Wedbush, which set a $92 price objective. The consensus target for the beloved doughnut chain is $75.82. The stock closed Friday at $79.64 a share.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, where the analysts have set a price target of $93. Across Wall Street, the consensus target is $91.62. The stock was last seen Friday at $76.13.

NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG) was added to the Conviction Buy list at Goldman Sachs, and the analysts have set a $56 price target. The consensus price target is $47.09. The stock closed below both levels Friday at $35.17.

Occidental Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: OXY) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley, which also set its price target at $55 The consensus target is $70.22. Occidental, which is in the process of buying Anadarko Petroleum, closed Friday at $50.61.

Rent-A-Center Inc. (NASDAQ: RCII) was raised to Equal Weight from Underperform at Stephens. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $11.98 to $26.75, and the consensus price target is $26. That compares with a Friday close of $24.18.

Rockwell Medical Inc. (NASDAQ: RMTI) was started with an Overweight rating at Piper Jaffray, and the analysts there have a $10 price target. The consensus target is $11.50. The stock closed Friday at $2.99, but shares were up over 4% in the premarket.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK) was resumed in coverage at Piper Jaffray with an Overweight rating and a $160 price objective. The consensus target is $151.44. The shares ended trading last Friday at $124.34.

Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE: SPOT) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Evercore ISI. Shares of the popular music streaming service have traded in a 52-week range of $103.29 to $198.99, and the consensus price target is $168.33. Friday’s last trade was posted at $148.31.

Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. (NASDAQ: SFM) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform and a $23 price target at Bernstein. The consensus target is $23.75, and shares ended Friday at $18.88.

United Technology Corp. (NYSE: UTX) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen. The price target for defense and industrial giant UTC, which is merging with Raytheon, was raised to $150. The consensus target is $152. The stock ended Friday at $128.75.

Upland Software Inc. (NASDAQ: UPDL) saw its price target raised to $53 from $50 at Needham. The consensus price target is $55.86. The stock ended last week at $47.79, down almost 7% on Friday.

WEC Energy Group Inc. (NYSE: WEC) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Merrill Lynch. The firm did raise the target price to $85. The consensus price target is $77.50, and the stock was last seen at $85.42.

Waitr Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: WTRH) was started with an Outperform rating and a $10 price objective at RBC Capital Markets. The consensus price target is much higher at $16.25. The stock was last seen trading at $5.52.

In case you missed it, check out last Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades. They included Carnival, Caterpillar, Darden Restaurants, Fiserv, KeyCorp, Micron Technology, Phillips 66 and more.