Stocks have continued to hit all-time highs, and the positive economic news is overpowering any of the ongoing noise and concerns. Investors have moved into risk assets again and have moved away from those imminent recession calls. Though many positives are being seen in the market, there are still many pressing issues, risks and potential pitfalls as the current bull market has raged on for longer than a decade. Investors need to consider what changes to make in their portfolios and assets heading into 2020.

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, while some 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 calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv sell-side research service.

With this being the last day of the last full workweek of 2019, it is very likely that the research departments issuing analyst reports will be more dependent on actual news and events until the first full trading week of 2020.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations for Friday, December 20, 2019.

Accenture PLC (NYSE: ACN) was reiterated as Buy and the target price was raised to $230 from $211 (versus a $208.30 prior close) at Citigroup.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $51.50 from $39.00 (versus a $42.83 close) at Wedbush Securities. The firm believes that AMD’s executions will bring additional market share gains in 2020.

American Electric Power Co. Inc. (NYSE: AEP) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform and its target price was raised to $102 from $93 (versus a $93.97 close) at Scotia Capital.

America’s Car Mart Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMT) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this small market used car chain has competitive advantages in both sales and financing. Shares most recently closed at $108.67 and have a consensus price target of $113.25.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) was reiterated as Outperform and the target price was raised to $70 from $67 (versus a $60.67 close) at Wells Fargo.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was reiterated as Outperform and the price target was raised to $305 from $290 at Piper Jaffray. Apple closed up 0.1% at $280.02 a share on Thursday, and its consensus target price was $265.25 ahead of this call.

BOK Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: BOKF) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform with a $90 target price (versus an $87.46 close) at Wedbush. The firm cited earnings challenges ahead in 2020.

Brunswick Corp. (NYSE: BC) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.

Chesapeake Utilities Corp. (NYSE: CPK) was raised to Buy from Neutral and the target price was raised to $107 from $95 (versus a $96.75 close) at Janney.

Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DNKN) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim.

Gladstone Land Corp. (NASDAQ: LAND) was started as Neutral with a $13.38 target price (versus a $12.71 close) at Wedbush, based on lower rental yields on the real estate investment trust’s farmlands and compression to its book value.

Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) was reiterated as Outperform and the target price was raised to $150 from $125 (versus a $137.35 close) at Wells Fargo. It previously had a $126.71 consensus target price.

Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) was raised to Outperform from Neutral and the target price was raised to $23 from $20 (versus a $20.22 close) at Wedbush. The firm sees Keycorp positioned to drive above-average earnings growth and sees it among the best-positioned banks for the current rate environment with an expected above-average growth driven by the consumer.

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (NYSE: LYB) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets.

Medifast Inc. (NYSE: MED) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that this multi-level diet company rallied on possible takeover news, but the deal is far from certain. Shares last closed at $103.16. The consensus price target is $113.00.

Michaels Companies Inc. (NYSE: MIK) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) was up 0.6% at $101.15 for an all-time closing high ahead of earnings, and the shares were indicated down 1.7% at $99.40 after the report. UBS maintained it as Neutral and raised the price target to $103 from $97. Wedbush reiterated its Outperform rating and $110 price target, and Citigroup reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $115 from $103. Raymond James reiterated its Outperform rating on Nike and raised its target price from $100 to $110.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) was reiterated as Outperform and the target price was raised to $270 from $240 (versus a $235.46 close) at Wells Fargo.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) was reiterated as Buy and the price target was raised to $340 from $265 at Argus, with the independent research firm seeing a boost when the health insurance industry fee is removed from taxes.

Visteon Corp. (NYSE: VC) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Markets.

Analysts and strategists have issued many sector calls and thematic calls for 2020 ahead of the new year.

RBC has issued three top hardlines retailers it sees as top picks for very strong gains in 2020, but the firm has a half-dozen or so runners-up as well that it would love investors to buy on pullbacks.

Five gold stocks are set to deliver upside performance on top of the stock market in 2020.

These are the seven most undervalued Dow stocks for gains and dividends heading into 2020.

Goldman Sachs has three top health care picks to outperform in 2020.

Credit Suisse sees five utilities outperforming in 2020.

Thursday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Applied Materials, Barrick Gold, Best Buy, Blackstone, Boeing, Cisco Systems, Johnson & Johnson, KKR, McDonald’s, Micron Technology, Occidental Petroleum, RealReal and Splunk. Wednesday’s top analyst calls included Datadog, Delta Air Lines, Eli Lilly, FedEx, Halliburton, Kinder Morgan, Skechers, Teladoc, Waste Management and many more. Tuesday’s top analyst calls were in Alcoa, Bed Bath & Beyond, Boeing, CenturyLink, DuPont, FedEx, Groupon, Johnson & Johnson, Micron Technology, Microsoft, WPX Energy and many 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.