The futures were trading decidedly lower Wednesday morning as investors are digesting what has become a very overbought stock market, which included yet another intraday all-time high, this time on the S&P 500. Top analysts on Wall Street are starting to point to “bubble” type metrics and are urging caution. With fourth-quarter earnings reports continuing to stream in, most across Wall Street will not only be examining the results but also looking to see what guidance for the first quarter and the rest of 2021 looks like. With all the major indexes and the Russell 2000 still very close to all-time highs, it makes sense for investors to start building some cash reserves while repositioning portfolios for 2021.
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 seen on Wednesday, January 27, 2021.
Albertsons Companies Inc. (NYSE: ACI | ACI Price Prediction) was downgraded at Wells Fargo from Overweight to Equal Weight with a $19 price target. The consensus target price for the grocery store giant is $20.82. Tuesday’s final trade came in at $19.50 up almost 5%.
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Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Baird, which raised the target price to $37. The lower consensus target is $24.63, and Tuesday’s close was at $36.87 a share.
Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup, which also raised the target price to $90. The lower consensus target is $68.95. Shares closed trading on Tuesday at $68.55.
DoorDash Inc. (NYSE: DASH) was started at Wells Fargo with an Equal Weight rating and a $185 price objective. The posted consensus objective is $169.17. The last trade on Tuesday came in at $198.22, which was up over 3% on the day.
DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG) was started with an Outperform rating and a $71 price target at Bernstein. The consensus target is $61.38. The last trade on Tuesday hit the tape at $54.06.
Dycom Industries Inc. (NYSE: DY) was raised from Sector Weight to Overweight with a $104 price target at KeyBanc Capital Markets. The consensus target is $82.17, and the final trade for Tuesday came in at $87.81.
Five Below Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVE) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup, though the firm raised the target price to $205. The consensus target for the red-hot retailer is $204.83. The last trade for Tuesday was reported at $184.75.
Himax Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: HIMX) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Nomura. It also was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which said that after guiding higher, this stock has seen a big run that could continue with improved execution. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $1.73 to $9.88, and have a consensus price objective of $6.96. The stock closed way above that level Tuesday at $9.76.
International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE: IFF) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that this stock has seen some small estimate revisions, so it has yet to be seen how the shares will respond. The stock last closed at $113.78 and has a consensus price target of $138.67.
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Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup, which raised the price target on the retailer to $56. The consensus target is just $37.60. The stock closed on Thursday at $45.16 per share.
Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) was downgraded from Overweight to Sector Weight with a $345 price target at KeyBanc Capital Markets. The consensus target for the credit card behemoth is up at $378.83. The stock was last seen on Tuesday at $327.70.
News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, which has a $23 price target. That compares with the $17.94 consensus target and Tuesday’s $19.14 close.
Prologis Inc. (NYSE: PLD) was raised from In-line to Outperform with a $121 price objective at Evercore ISI. The consensus target is lower at $115.94. The shares were last seen on Tuesday at $106.05, after a one-day gain of over 3%.
Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird, and the price target was raised to $275. The consensus target is $252.05. The stock retreated over 16% on Tuesday to close at $244.45, despite posting better than expected earnings.
Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) was raised to Buy from Hold at Summit Insights. The venerable chip maker has traded in a 52-week range of $93.09 to $175.47, and it has a consensus price target of $165.74. The closing price on Tuesday was $171.47. Shares were down almost 3% in premarket action.
3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) was raised at JPMorgan from Neutral to Buy with a $205 price target. That compares to the $179.13 consensus target. The stock rose more than 3% on Tuesday and closed at $175.95.
Ulta Beauty Inc. (NASDAQ: ULTA) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup, which raised the price target to $320. The consensus target is $302.42, and the shares closed at $295.72 on Tuesday.
Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UAA) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup, though it lifted the price target to $19. That compares with a lower $15.64 consensus target and Tuesday’s $18.51 close.
Wendy’s Co. (NYSE: WEN) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank, which also raised the price target on the fast-food giant to $25. The consensus target is right in line at $25.06. The last trade for Tuesday was reported at $21.07 a share.
Xerox Holdings Corp. (NYSE: XRX) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse, which lowered the target price to $20. The consensus target is $17.80. The shares were last seen Tuesday at $21.07.
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A market sell-off is probably coming, perhaps a fast and furious 10% or even 20% drop. Typically, sin stocks are able to hold their own when that happens, and BofA Securities has four that could be just the ticket for worried investors.
Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Activision Blizzard, Bank of America, Dollar General, DraftKings, Electronic Arts, Micron Technology and Microsoft. Analyst calls made later in the day featured Applied Materials, Apache, Bed Bath & Beyond, Palo Alto Networks and more.
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