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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: AbbVie, Camping World, Cleveland-Cliffs, Coupa, Dollar General, DuPont, Nike, Roku, StoneCo and More

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Stocks closed 1% lower on the Dow Jones industrial average and 0.7% lower on the S&P 500 in Tuesday’s post-tariff trading session, but most of those losses were being made up on overseas strength on Wednesday. The bull market is well over 10 years old and the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all still have double-digit percentage gains so far in 2019. Investors should be considering how to position their portfolios and assets heading into late 2019 and as 2020 approaches.

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, while some 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 for Wednesday, September 4, 2019.

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) was reiterated as Overweight and its target price was raised to $81 from $80 at Piper Jaffray. Shares closed down 0.5% at $65.40 on Tuesday and were indicated up the same amount as it fell on Wednesday. AbbVie has a 52-week trading range of $62.66 to $96.60 and a consensus target price of $85.25.

Allegiant Travel Co. (NASDAQ: ALGT) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this company has soared in 2019 to easily outpace the broader transportation-air market. Shares of Allegiant most recently closed at $141.56, with a consensus price target of $162.92.

Camping World Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CWH) was reiterated as Underperform and the price objective was lowered to $7 from $10 (versus a $7.40 prior close) at Merrill Lynch. It had a consensus target price of $12.92 ahead of this call, and its 52-week trading range is $7.25 to $23.60.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) was maintained as Buy but its target price was lowered to $8 from $10 (versus a $6.78 close, after a 14.6% drop) at Citigroup. The consensus target price was $12.95, and the 52-week trading range is $6.64 to $13.10.

Coupa Software Inc. (NASDAQ: COUP) was down over 3.2% at $134.40 on Tuesday ahead of earnings, but its shares were last seen up 11.3% at $149.60 in the post-earnings reactions. Oppenheimer reiterated its Outperform rating and raised the target price to $170 from $160. Goldman Sachs reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $174 from $140. Wedbush Securities reiterated its Outperform rating with a $180 target price, and Morgan Stanley maintained an Equal Weight rating but raised its target price to $146 from $122.

Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $180 from $150 at Oppenheimer. The stock closed down 0.3% at $155.63, and it had a consensus target price of $161.73 ahead of this call.

Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) was started with a Neutral rating at Northcoast Research. Shares closed at $226.87 and had a consensus target price of $283.29.

DuPont de Nemours Inc. (NYSE: DD) was reiterated as Overweight and the price target was raised to $85 from $78 (versus a $67.45 close) at Morgan Stanley.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy with a $42 target price at UBS. It closed down 1.37% at $39.74 and had a consensus target price of $42.21.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) was removed from the Best Ideas List at Wedbush despite an Outperform rating and a $122 target price. The firm sees few near-term catalysts ahead of the launch of “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order” in mid-November, and it is also less confident in upside to guidance for free-to-play title “Apex Legends” as the game seems to be performing within the guidance range over its first six months.

Internap Corp. (NASDAQ: INAP) was downgraded to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James.

International Paper Co. (NYSE: IP) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the stock has tumbled 25% in the past year as part of a much broader industry downturn. Shares closed at $38.06, with a consensus price target of $48.08.

Kura Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: KURA) was reiterated as Outperform with a $30 target price (versus a $15.03 close) at Wedbush. The firm noted that positive Phase 2 data for tipifarnib in HRAS-mutant urothelial cancer met its primary endpoint.


Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was reiterated as Neutral and the price target was raised to $87 from $84 at UBS. Nike closed up 0.2% at $84.67 ahead of the call, and its consensus target price was $92.50. The 52-week range is $66.53 to $90.00.

ObsEva S.A. (NASDAQ: OBSV) was reiterated as Outperform with a $38 target price (versus a $9.73 close) at Wedbush. The firm noted that Nolasiban/IVF’s new data reinforces its bullish view, with Phase 3 study results due in the fourth quarter.

Papa John’s International Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $70 target price (versus a $46.59 close) at Northcoast Research.

Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $185 from $135 (versus a $156.88 close) at D.A. Davidson. Roku has a consensus target price of $119.87 and a 52-week trading range of $26.30 to $157.22.

StoneCo Ltd. (NASDAQ: STNE) was started with a Buy rating and assigned a $38 target price (versus a $30.09 close) at Guggenheim. This was Warren Buffett’s best performing stock of 2019, and its consensus target price was $34.67.

Thor Industries Inc. (NYSE: THO) was reiterated as Underperform and the price objective was lowered to $47 from $58 (versus a $44.22 close, after a 3.7% drop) at Merrill Lynch. It had a consensus analyst target of $70.90 ahead of this call, and its 52-week trading range is $42.05 to $109.94.

Viad Corp. (NYSE: VVI) was reiterated as Buy and the price target is $85 (versus a $64.63 close) at Janney. The firm called Viad its favorite stock of the type in its coverage universe as an overlooked growth story with the potential benefit of strategic options in the future.

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: WWE) was reiterated as Neutral and the price target was lowered to $79 from $86 at Citigroup. Evercore ISI started coverage as Outperform with a $90 target price. Shares closed down almost 3% at $69.37 ahead of the calls, and the prior consensus target price was $97.33.

Y-mAbs Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: YMAB) was started with an Outperform rating and assigned a $38 target price (versus a $25.61 close) at Wedbush. The firm called it undervalued, based on its core and late-stage market opportunities supporting the current share price at a low-cost to no-cost option to label expansions and earlier-stage pipeline efforts.

If you are an income investor who just cannot stomach the low Treasury yields at this point (under 1.5% on the 10-year note), here are eight alternative investments to Treasury notes and bonds as the markets and yields stand at this point in 2019.

Wedbush has issued a report on the top regional banks and noted that the solid loan growth has been one of the few bright spots for the group this year. It has concerns over whether that loan growth can continue and sees a disconnect between positive borrower sentiment, strong loan pipelines and no signs of emerging credit deterioration, as well as how the media portrays the economy and the shape of the yield curve in particular. The report went on:

The fear is the headline risk of a recession turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy. That said, we maintain our cautious view of the bank group given the unfavorable rate environment, which has gotten worse since July with the precipitous drop in the 10-year treasury. Plus, a number of leading economic indicators are down from recent peak levels and most are in a downtrend, making us even more cautious on our 2020 outlook. … We lowered our EPS estimates for our entire bank group by 2% in 2020 and are below consensus on almost every bank.

Tuesday’s top analyst calls included Annaly Capital Management, Amazon.com, Enterprise Products Partners, Kinder Morgan, Lululemon Athletica, RealReal, Snap, Square, Under Armour and many more.

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