Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: BJ's, Casper, Cisco, Deere, FedEx, Lyft, Micron, Nvidia, Occidental, Ping, Voya and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: August 13, 2020 9:19 am

Last Updated: September 2, 2020 7:18 am

Stocks were indicated to open up marginally higher on Thursday after weekly jobless claims were under a million. The S&P 500 index is now right at those all-time highs from before the panic selling earlier this year. Earnings season has peaked and many investors feel as though they may have missed out on the recovery rally. This will send those investors to look for new ideas for how to be positioned in the second half of 2020 and ahead of the election.

24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports each day of the week in an effort to find new ideas for long-term investors and short-term traders alike. Some analyst reports cover stocks to buy, and others cover stocks to sell or avoid.

Now that stocks have recovered so much, analyst calls have basically normalized, with fewer extreme target changes. Some calls are praising growth over value, and others are focused on base economy stocks that already have begun recovering. Remember that no single analyst call should ever be used as a basis to buy or sell a stock. Consensus analyst target data is from Refinitiv.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations from Thursday, August 13, 2020.

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) was reiterated as Neutral and its price target was raised to $83 from $73 at Citigroup.

Ameren Corp. (NYSE: AEE) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA Securities.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. (NYSE: AMP) was started as Overweight and its price target was set at $195 (versus a $161.08 prior close) at Barclays.

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BJ) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $40 from $33 at Raymond James.

Casper Sleep Inc. (NYSE: CSPR) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $13 from $12 (versus an $8.86 close) at Citigroup.

Cellular Biomedicine Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CBMG) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird. The stock closed up 35% at $19.27 on Wednesday, with a $28 consensus target price.

Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $700 from $590 at Argus.

Chiasma Inc. (NASDAQ: CHMA) was started with a Buy rating and its target price was set at $8 (versus a $4.44 close) at Jefferies.

Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Sandler. Shares closed up 2.5% at $29.21 on Wednesday, with a $38.08 consensus target price.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) saw its shares fall 7.7% to $44.40 after disappointing sales guidance even though it beat earnings expectations. Credit Suisse reiterated it as Neutral but raised its target to $45 from $41. Its consensus target price was $49.62.

Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE: OFC) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. Deere closed down 0.4% at $192.31 on Wednesday, with a $171.65 consensus price target.

Elanco Animal Health Inc. (NYSE: ELAN) was reinstated as Neutral with a $27 price target at Credit Suisse. Shares closed down 1.6% at $25.00 on Wednesday, with a $25.50 consensus target price.

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FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $235 from $170 (versus a $201.96 close) at Citigroup.

GrafTech International Ltd. (NYSE: EAF) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that despite a recent beat, this stock has slipped to the lowest rank for Zacks. Shares last closed at $7.00 and have a consensus price target of $8.90.

Iveric Bio Inc. (NASDAQ: ISEE) was started as Outperform with a $13 target price (versus a $4.40 close) at Credit Suisse.

Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT) posted a smaller than expected loss, but after closing down 0.4% at $30.52, its shares were indicated down 2.2% at $29.85 Thursday morning. Wedbush Securities reiterated it as Outperform but lowered its price target to $37 from $48.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank. The stock closed up 1.5% at $48.48 on Wednesday, and it had a $64.58 consensus target price.

Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE: NBR) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral and its price target was cut to $45 from $65 (versus a $55.15 close, after a 2.5% gain) at Goldman Sachs.

National Instruments Corp. (NASDAQ: NATI) was started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) was reiterated as Outperform and its price target was raised to $500 from $370 (versus a $457.61 close) at Raymond James.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan.

1Life Healthcare Inc. (NASDAQ: ONEM) was last seen trading up 8.7% at $30.05 after beating earnings and raising guidance. Truist Securities reiterated it as Buy with a $30 price target.

Pfenex Inc. (NYSE: PFNX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Truist.

Ping Identity Holding Corp. (NYSE: PING) was last seen down 9.5% at $30.35 after earnings. Raymond James reiterated it as Outperform and its price target was raised to $35 from $26.

Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR) was downgraded Hold from Buy at Argus.

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Prologis Inc. (NYSE: PLD) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $115 from $93 (versus a $102.88 close) at Citigroup.

Tivity Health Inc. (NASDAQ: TVTY) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that a recent big beat has estimates soaring and the potential for M&A has investors taking a deeper look. Shares most recently closed at $17.50 and have a consensus price target of $20.19.

Voya Financial Inc. (NYSE: VOYA) was started with an Overweight rating and its price target was set at $60 (versus a $51.76 close) at Barclays.

Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AutoNation, CDW, Cree, Costco Wholesale, Deere, Etsy, Lowe’s Companies, Roku, Target, Ulta Beauty and Vaxart.