The futures traded higher on Friday morning, as we get set to end a wild trading week. Rising interest rates put a huge damper on tech stocks, even though the head of the Federal Reserve assured investors that raising benchmark rates is very unlikely until 2023. The Dow Jones industrials posted yet another intraday all-time high before closing lower, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were both hit very hard. It should be noted that the Transports notched another all-time high, and that usually bodes very well for the economy, especially with stimulus money pouring in and the country reopening.

Despite the strong gains, top strategists on Wall Street continue pointing to “bubble” metrics, like the massive “meme” retail stock and option trading, huge hedge fund leverage and IPOs that don’t make money as examples, so the current volatility may be here for some time.

With major Wall Street firms still warning of the potential for impending 5% to 10% correction across the board, it makes sense for investors to continue building some cash reserves into the market strength, while repositioning portfolios for the start of the second quarter and the rest of 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 Friday, March 19, 2021.

Aeva Technologies Inc. (NYSE: AEVA) was started with an Outperform rating and a $20 price target at Oppenheimer. There is no consensus posted due to the recent initial public offering. The shares closed Thursday at $13.19, down over 6% on the day.

A-Mark Precious Metals Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRK) was started with a Buy rating and a $55 price target at D.A. Davidson. The consensus target is just lower at $52, and the stock closed Thursday at $38.27, up almost 4% on the day.

Acutus Medical Inc. (NASDAQ: AFIB) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan, where the price target was lowered to $19. The consensus target is higher at $26. The shares were last seen trading at $16.83 on Thursday.

Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) was started with an Outperform rating and a $340 price target at Cowen. The consensus target is lower at $302.64, and the shares were last seen Thursday at $269.43.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE: AJG) was downgraded at Deutsche Bank from Buy to Hold with a $138 price target. The consensus target is $136.75, and the stock closed at $126.58 on Thursday.

Beyond Meat Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND) was started with an Overweight rating and a $190 price target at Stephens. The consensus target is a much lower $124.50, and the final Thursday trade was recorded at $133.72.

Blackstone Group Inc. (NYSE: BX) was downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer, which maintained a $71 price target. The posted consensus target is $74.10, and the stock closed Thursday at $73.03, after retreating over 4% for the day.

BTRS Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BTRS) was started with an Overweight rating and a $20 price target at KeyBanc Capital Markets. No consensus target was available. The stock was last seen at $16.42, down over 7% on Thursday.

Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI) was started with a Peer Perform rating and a $165 price target at Wolfe Research. That compares with the higher $174.28 consensus and Thursday’s close at $165.19 a share.

Enphase Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH) was raised from Neutral to Positive with a $200 price target at Susquehanna. The higher $214 consensus target compares with Thursday’s close at $148.18, which was down almost 10% for the day.

EVO Payments Inc. (NASDAQ: EVOP) was raised from Neutral to Buy with a $35 price target at Compass Point. The consensus target is $28.36, and the final Thursday trade was reported at $27.85, which was down almost 5% for the day.

Evercore Inc. (NYSE: EVR) was upgraded to Conviction Buy at Goldman Sachs, which also raised the price target to $162. The consensus target is lower at $144.38, and the final print on Thursday was at $138.60.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays, which raised the price target on the venerable carmaker to $16. The consensus target is much lower at $11.43. The last trade for Thursday came in at $12.49.
Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: HIG) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, which raised the price target to $82. The lower consensus target of $59.40 was also lower than Thursday’s close at $68.15, which was up a stunning 19% after Chubb offered to acquire the company.

Houlihan Lokey Inc. (NYSE: HLI) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs, which lowered the price target to $73. The consensus target is just higher at $74.83. The final Thursday trade was reported at $68.08 a share.

Keurig Dr. Pepper Inc. (NASDAQ: KDP) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, which raised the price target to $39. The consensus target for the soft drink and coffee giant is lower at $35.36, and the final Thursday trade hit the tape at $33.89.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, which lowered the price target on the consumer staples giant to $123. That compares with the much higher $147.80 consensus and a Thursday close of $132.40 a share.

La-Z-Boy Inc. (NYSE: LZB) was named as the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that complacent bulls are getting lazy at all-time highs. Shares last closed at $44.25 and have a consensus price target of $50.00.

Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) was named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks, which points out that commodity bulls are plowing into this stock. Shares most recently closed at $33.48 and have a consensus price target last seen at $33.00.

Navient Corp. (NASDAQ: NAVI) was raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies, and the firm also raised the price target to $19. The consensus target is much lower at $13.58, and the stock closed Thursday at $12.94.

With rising interest rates, financials and health care look like a great place to be for the next quarter. These five BofA Securities US 1 top stocks look like very solid ideas for growth stock investors looking to rotate capital.

Seven producers of steel, copper and aluminum are likely to benefit from a $2 trillion federal investment in infrastructure. Also see which analysts project huge upside for Carnival and what Louis Navellier has to say about bond vigilantes.

Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Agilent Technologies, Carnival, Clorox, Darden Restaurants, Pinduoduo, QuantumScape, Royal Dutch Shell and Williams-Sonoma. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Accenture, NRG Energy, Thermo Fisher and more.

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