Investing

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Boston Scientific, CVS, FMC, Lennar, NovoCure, Penn National, Ruth's, Stitch Fix, Veeco and More

Jon C. Ogg

Published: September 17, 2020 8:58 am

Last Updated: September 18, 2020 8:01 am

The Dow Jones industrials and S&P 500 were both indicated down about 1% on Thursday after jobless claims remained handily above 800,000 and as profit-taking came into play. As many investors missed out on the recovery from late in March through September, now is the time they need to be looking 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 with a goal of finding new ideas for investors and traders alike. Some of these daily analyst calls cover stocks to buy. Other calls cover stocks to sell or avoid.

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, September 17, 2020.

Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) was started with a Buy rating and a $47 price target (versus a $41.02 prior close) at Truist Securities.

CF Industries (NYSE: CF) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at HSBC.

CVS Health Corp. (NYSE: CVS) was started as Overweight with a $72 price target (versus a $57.48 close) at Piper Sandler. It had a $79.96 consensus target price.

Edgewell Personal Care Co. (NYSE: EPC) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that this consumer products stock faces an uphill battle as the pandemic continues. Shares last closed at $30.04 and have a consensus price target of $35.20.

Eventbrite Inc. (NYSE: EB) was reiterated as Buy and its target price was raised to $16 from $12 (versus a $12.40 close, after an 8% gain) at Truist.

FMC Corp. (NYSE: FMC) was started as Buy and a $127 price target at UBS.

General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) was downgraded to Sell from Buy and its price target was cut to $138 from $205 at Goldman Sachs. The stock was indicated down 2.7% at $142.82 on Thursday, and it had a $172.26 consensus target price.

Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) was raised to Buy from Hold and its price target was raised to $40 from $30 (versus a $34.40 close) at Truist.

Huntsman Corp. (NYSE: HUN) was started with a Buy rating and a $29 price target (versus a $22.85 close) at Stifel.

Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) was raised to Positive from Neutral and its target price was raised to $94 from $77 at Susquehanna.

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Mercury Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY) was raised to Buy from Neutral and its price target was raised to $81 from $80 (versus a $69.55 close) at Goldman Sachs.

NovoCure Ltd. (NASDAQ: NVCR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Truist.

Penn National Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ: PENN) was reiterated as Buy and its price target was raised to $85 (versus a $67.84 close) at Stifel.

RH (NYSE: RH) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that this luxury home retailer crushed earnings expectations as demand begins to surge. Shares most recently closed at $381.54, with a consensus price target of just $365.77.

Ruth’s Hospitality Group Inc. (NASDAQ: RUTH) was reiterated as Outperform and its target price was raised to $15 from $12.50 (versus a $12.22 close) at Raymond James.

Stitch Fix Inc. (NASDAQ: SFIX) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $36 price target at Needham, and MKM Partners started it as Neutral with a $25 price target. Shares closed down 1.6% at $28.26 ahead of the call and had a $27.29 prior closing price.

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO) was started with an Overweight rating and a $15 price target (versus a $12.13 close, after a 10% gain) at Barclays.

Vericel Corp. (NASDAQ: VCEL) was started with a Buy rating and a $24 price target (versus an $18.12 close) at Truist.

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Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Adobe, Apple, FedEx, HCA Healthcare, Kraft Heinz, Peloton Interactive, Sirius XM, Tesla, Transocean and Veeco Instruments.