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Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Agilent, Antero, Chewy, Domino's, eHealth, First Solar, Kraft Heinz, Newmont, Square, Tilray, Wayfair and More

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Stocks began selling off last week on more widespread coronavirus outbreaks beyond China, but the selling pressure on Monday’s futures levels is far worse, with Dow Jones industrials down over 700 points and the S&P 500 over 80 points lower. Despite the selling, most indexes are still fairly close to all-time highs. Expectations are growing that the election cycle will contribute more volatility for the rest of this year. Many investors still have not made some of their normal portfolio changes this year either.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week. Our goal is to try to find new ideas for traders and long-term investors alike. Some of the daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy, while others cover stocks to sell or to avoid.

We have provided these analyst calls in a quick-hit summary for easy reading, and additional comments and trading data have been added on many of the calls. The consensus analyst price targets and other valuation metrics are from the Refinitiv sell-side research service.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Monday, February 24, 2020.

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) was downgraded to Hold from Buy with an $85 target price (versus an $85.07 prior close) at Needham. It had a $90.31 consensus target price.

Antero Midstream Corp. (NYSE: AM) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $5 target price (versus a $4.76 close, after a 5.7% drop) at Wells Fargo. Antero had a consensus target price of $7.27, and its 52-week trading range is $4.26 to $14.50.

Builders FirstSource Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDR) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $32 target price (versus a $26.69 close) at Benchmark. It had a $28.45 prior analyst target.

Carvana Co. (NYSE: CVNA) was started with a Hold rating and a $120 target price (versus a $110.09 close) at Deutsche Bank. The stock was indicated down 2.8% at $107.00, and its prior consensus target price was $82.51.

Chewy Inc. (NYSE: CHWY) was started with an Outperform rating with a $38 target price and at Evercore ISI. The stock closed up almost 4% at $30.40 on Friday but was indicated down over 4% at $29.15 on Monday.

Consolidated Edison Inc. (NYSE: ED) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and its target price was lowered to $91 from $98 (versus a $90.18 close, after a 4.6% drop) at Mizuho. ConEd was indicated down 1% at $89.25, and its consensus target price was $91.00.

Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform but its target price was raised to $380 from $325 at Cowen. Shares closed down 0.3% at $371.96 on Friday, but they had been down at $297.10 last week prior to its major post-earnings gains.

eHealth (NASDAQ: EHTH) performed well at the end of last week although it closed up just 1.8% at $131.52 after hitting a high of about $143. Credit Suisse reiterated it as Outperform and raised its target price to $179 from $145, and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $250 from $200.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was down 14.7% to $50.59 on Friday, and its shares were down almost 4% at $48.65 ahead of Monday’s opening bell. On top of earnings, a change in its business model also seems to be weighing on it. Merrill Lynch downgraded it by two-notches to Underperform from Buy and lowered its price objective to $54 from $64.

Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) closed down over 4% at $38.84 on Friday despite strong capital returns coming for shareholders. Deutsche Bank maintained it as Buy but lowered the target price to $55 from $59.

Galapagos N.V. (NASDAQ: GLPG) was up over 5% on Friday to $274.03 and was indicated down over 7% at $254.25 on Monday. Merrill Lynch downgraded it to Underperform from Neutral, while H.C. Wainwright reiterated its Buy rating and raised its target to $302 from $205.

InMode Ltd. (NASDAQ: INMD) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that high demand for minimally invasive aesthetic procedures is driving growth for this medical stock. Shares recently closed at $39.00, with a consensus price target of $49.75.


Kraft Heinz Co. (NASDAQ: KHC) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the packaged food giant is facing serious near-term headwinds, like losing key market share. Shares last closed at $27.26 and have a consensus price target of $28.74.

Martin Marietta Materials Inc. (NYSE: MLM) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Stephens.

Mednax Inc. (NYSE: MD) was hit hard last week on news it was losing its contract with UnitedHealth. Credit Suisse maintained its Outperform rating but cut its target to $29 from $33.

Newmont Corp. (NYSE: NEM) was raised to Outperform from Neutral with a $58 target price at CIBC. The stock was up 2.8% at $49.44 on Friday and was indicated up 4.6% at $51.73 on Monday, as gold is higher on the flight to safety trade.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: NCLH) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Argus, with the independent research firm giving strong and longer concerns over the coronavirus impact.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD) was reiterated as Overweight and its target price was raised to $197 from $183 (versus a $142.25 close) at Morgan Stanley.

Square Inc. (NYSE: SQ) was reiterated as Outperform with an $84 target price (versus an $83.49 close) at Credit Suisse, but this share price is after a 36% gain over the past 100 days or so, and the firm remained positive on its growth.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO) was reiterated as Buy and its target was raised to $370 (versus a $334.94 close) at Argus.

Tilray Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform and its target price was slashed to $20 from $40 at Cowen. Shares closed up 0.7% at $19.37 on Friday but were indicated down 8.3% at $17.76 on Monday. The prior consensus target price was $25.64.

TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) was reiterated as Buy and its target was raised to $69 from $66 at Deutsche Bank. It closed down almost 1% at $63.31 a share on Friday, with a $65.85 consensus target price.

United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) was maintained as Outperform but the target price was lowered to $172 from $177 (versus a $151.51 close) at Credit Suisse. The move is an update to its EV/EBITDA model based on the Otis and Carrier sum-of-parts.

Vulcan Materials Co. (NYSE: VMC) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight and its target price was lowered to $150 from $177 (versus a $133.95 close) at Stephens. The stock closed down 1.3% on Friday, and its prior consensus target price was $158.76.

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight and its target price was lowered to $65 from $75 (versus an $80.14 close) at Morgan Stanley. Wayfair closed down 2.6% on Friday and was indicated down over 5% at $76.00 on Monday.

Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Wells Fargo. Shares were down 2.4% at $21.52 on Friday, with a $27.17 consensus target price. They were indicated down 3% at $20.90 on Monday morning.

Credit Suisse maintained its bullish thesis is intact for stocks despite the inverted yield curve. The firm’s forecast of 3,600 for the S&P 500 implies 7.9% upside over the next 10 months. The outlook is based on three views for 2020:

  1. Per-share earnings growth of roughly 6%
  2. Stronger industrial data
  3. A wide gap between the return of capital to shareholders (i.e. dividends and buybacks) versus low bond yields.

The outlook also remains intact along with risks and concerns about the coronavirus and the upcoming election.

Friday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Albermarle, American Electric Power, Autodesk, Chewy, Domino’s Pizza, HollyFrontier, Livent, NextEra Energy, RealReal, Square, T-Mobile and more.

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