Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AbbVie, ADM, Conoco, FedEx, Fox, Kinder Morgan, Lennar, Micron, Slack, Virtu and More

Investing

Published: June 26, 2019 9:10 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 7:16 pm

Stocks were indicated to open stronger on Wednesday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said the deal with China was basically 90% of the way done before negotiations went south in May but noted that there is a path to complete trade talks. With the volatility still there at the same time the markets are so close to all-time highs, investors need to consider 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. Others 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 them. 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 Wednesday, June 26, 2019.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) traded down 16% to $65.70, after confirming a $63 billion deal to acquire Allergan. Leerink upgraded AbbVie to Outperform from Market Perform. Shares were indicated up over 1% on Wednesday, and the prior consensus target price was $90.07.

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets. After closing down 2.7% at $17.28 on Tuesday, it was indicated down another 1% at $17.11 on Wednesday.

Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) was maintained with a Buy rating but the price target was lowered to $51 from $56 (versus a $40.42 prior close) at Stifel. ADM has a 52-week range of $37.77 to $52.07 and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Avantor Inc. (NYSE: AVTR) was reiterated as Buy with a $27 price target (versus an $18.70 close) at Janney. It has a $21.24 consensus target price.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the target price was raised to $80 from $74 (versus a $59.77 close) at Mizuho. Conoco had a consensus target price of $77.25, and its 52-week range is $56.76 to $80.24.

Denali Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: DNLI) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $ $28 target price (versus a $20.20 close, after a 2.9% gain) at H.C. Wainwright.

Eiger BioPharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: EIGR) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $22 price target (versus a $10.72 close) at Citigroup. The 52-week range is $8.40 to $15.33, and the consensus target price is $36.00.

Eldorado Gold Corp. (NYSE: EGO) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan.

Energizer Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ENR) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank. Shares closed down 1.57% at $37.53 but were indicated up over 1% at $38.00 on Wednesday. The 52-week range is $37.39 to $65.57, and the consensus target price is $55.80.

Envision Solar International Inc. (NASDAQ: EVSI) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $9 target price (versus a $5.11 close) at Maxim Group.

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) traded down 3% to $155.98 on Tuesday but was indicated up 2.4% at $159.73 on Wednesday. JPMorgan maintained a Neutral rating but lowered the target price to $172 from $184. Raymond James maintained an Outperform rating on FedEx but cut its target to $190 from $200.

ALSO READ: Merrill Lynch Has 4 Technology Stocks With Solid Dividends to Buy Now

Fox Corp. (NASDAQ: FOX) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $46 target price (versus a $35.19 close) at Goldman Sachs. Fox has a 52-week range of $33.32 to $50.96 and a consensus target price of $51.50.

Gold Fields Ltd. (NYSE: GFI) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets. The stock closed down 1.25% at $5.55 and had a consensus target price of $4.23. Its shares were indicated down 4% at $5.32 on Wednesday.

Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James. The stock closed down 2.7% at $20.58 on Tuesday, in a 52-week range of $14.62 to $21.50 and with a consensus target price of $21.65.

Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) was down 6.2% at $48.22 on Tuesday after a weaker outlook overshadowed its earnings beat. JPMorgan maintained an Overweight rating but lowered its target to $54 from $57. Merrill Lynch maintained its Buy rating but lowered its price objective to $55 from $57. Wedbush Securities said the sell-off was overdone, and the firm reiterated its Outperform rating and maintained its $62 price target on Lennar.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) traded down 1.5% at $32.68 before earnings on Tuesday but was trading up 8.75% at $35.54 on Wednesday after the report. It was raised to Buy from Hold with a $50 target price at Needham. Morgan Stanley maintained its Underweight rating and cut its target to $31 from $32, and KeyBanc Capital Markets maintained an Overweight rating but lowered its target to $45 from $48.

Mueller Water Products Inc. (NYSE: MWA) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral and the target price was cut to $8 from $10 (versus a $9.83 close) at Goldman Sachs. The consensus target price is $11.50. The 52-week trading range is $8.47 to $12.59.

Parsons Corp. (NYSE: PSN) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.

ALSO READ: The 6 Most Shorted Dow Stocks

Slack Technologies Inc. (NYSE: WORK) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $44 price target at Robert W. Baird. Shares closed down 1.57% at $35.20 on Tuesday and were indicated up 2.2% at $35.97. The post-IPO trading range was $34.81 to $42.00, and it has no quiet period, so analysts will be dribbling recommendations (unknown ratings) at any time if they choose to cover the stock. The direct IPO had no traditional underwriting syndicate.

State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS. It closed up 0.5% at $56.00, in a 52-week range of $53.53 to $96.50 and with a consensus target price of $68.42.

Virtu Financial Inc. (NASDAQ: VIRT) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $29 target price (versus a $21.00 close) at Rosenblatt Securities. The 52-week range is $19.65 to $29.17, and the consensus target price is $27.75.

Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James. The stock closed down 1.3% at $26.79 on Tuesday. It has a 52-week range of $20.36 to $32.22 and a consensus target price of $31.95.

Despite the volatility and markets still remaining close to all-time highs, Merrill Lynch has four tech picks with high dividends it thinks are still attractive for investors to buy.

Tuesday’s top analyst calls included Caesars, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Host Hotels, Kellogg, McDonald’s, Shopify, Starbucks, Tiffany and many more.

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