The futures traded higher Friday morning as investors continue to weigh the advantages of a possible rate cut at the end of the month against what remains a very expensive and probably overbought stock market. This is a time when investors should be considering exactly how they want their portfolios and assets positioned for the rest 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 are from the Refinitiv (Thomson Reuters) sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations on Friday, July 19, 2019.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC) was started with an Outperform rating and an $18 price objective at Roth Capital. The Wall Street consensus price objective for the movie theater giant is $16.46. The stock closed trading on Thursday at $9.62.

American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) was raised to Buy from Neutral at William Blair. The 52-week trading range for the stock is $36.16 to $56.49, and the consensus price target for the insurance giant is $57.88. The shares ended Thursday at $55.60.

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus. The 52-week trading range for the aluminum behemoth is $20.82 to $45.65, and the consensus price target is $30.83. The stock was last seen trading at $23.41.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) was resumed in coverage with a Sell rating at Northcoast, which has a stunning $400 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $705.85. The stock closed way above that level Thursday at $764.04.

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) saw its price target raised to $92 at Needham after the cybersecurity company posted huge first-time earnings results. The analysts noted that demand trends are so strong that management raised guidance for both forward quarter growth to 85% to 87% and the full year to 72% to 73% from 64%. The shares closed Thursday at $72.75, but were up a stunning 20% in the premarket.

CubeSmart (NYSE: CUBE) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $27.10 to $35.23, and the consensus price target is set at $33. The shares closed above that level on Thursday at $34.44.

Decker’s Outdoor Corp. (NYSE: DECK) saw its price target raised to $172 from $152 at Pivotal Research Group. That compares with a consensus price target of $160.45. The stock ended trading at $176.38 on Thursday.

Dow Inc. (NYSE: DOW) was started with a Market Perform rating and a price target of $55 at Cowen. The consensus target for the chemical conglomerate is $59.09, and the stock ended Thursday’s trading at $51.75.

Grubhub Inc. (NYSE: GRUB) was started with a Buy rating at Benchmark, which has a $95 price target. The consensus target is posted at $98.04, and the shares closed trading on Thursday at $74.91 apiece.

KBR Inc. (NYSE: KBR) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen, which also raised the price target on the construction giant to $31. The consensus target is $25.55, and the shares were last seen trading at $25.27.

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PMI) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays, which also raised the price target on the tobacco giant to $100. Shares have traded between $65 and $91 apiece over the past 52 weeks, and the stock closed on Thursday at $87.50, up almost 5% on the day.

Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch. The self-storage giant has traded in a 52-week range of $193.89 to $251.28. The consensus price target is posted at $214.36, but shares closed way above that level most recently at $247.55.

Post Holdings Inc. (NYSE: POST) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray. The firm also raised its price target to $130. The consensus target price is $122.50, and the stock was last seen trading at $108.04.

Skechers USA Inc. (NYSE: SKX) saw its target price raised to $42 from $35 at Monness Crespi & Hardt, where the analysts noted that the company has managed expenses well in the past three quarters, focusing on profitability over sales. They also believe that if management can continue to deliver more profitable growth, then the stock’s multiple will expand as the company’s multiyear track record of double-digit sales growth should justify a higher valuation. The stock closed Thursday at $34.84.

Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE: TRV) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Buckingham Research. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $111.08 to $159.09. The stock closed Thursday at $152.71.

V.F. Corp. (NYSE: VFC) saw its price target raised to $90 from $88 at Pivotal Research Group. That compares with the higher consensus target of $95.21. The stock closed most recently at $87.16.

Zacks has named Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) as its Bull of the Day, saying that the e-commerce, cloud-computing powerhouse appears strong at the moment, especially heading into its second-quarter earnings next week. The Bear of the Day is Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF). Zacks noted that this retailer’s shares have tanked 35% since the firm reported slower-than projected sales growth and provided guidance in the first quarter.

Thursday’s top analyst calls included Advanced Micro Devices, Apple, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Costco, Exxon Mobil, Netflix, Qualcomm, Ulta Beauty, U.S. Bancorp and more.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.