The futures were lower on Wednesday as the onslaught of S&P 500 earnings continues this week. With one-third of the S&P 500 reporting and big tech leading the earnings parade Tuesday after the close, the market continues to hold its ground despite investor euphoria, gigantic margin debt and being soundly overbought. Interest rates that had rolled over some last week trended higher again, and inflation is being mentioned almost daily.

Despite inflationary pressures, the Federal Reserve pledges to keep interest rates contained, which could be among the reasons for the continued moves higher in the equity markets, even after sell-offs. Also note that money markets continue to see massive inflows, which is another big plus.

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 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 Wednesday, April 28, 2021.

ABB Ltd. (NYSE: ABB): JPMorgan raised the stock to Neutral from Underweight. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $16.80 to $33.48 and have a consensus price target of $34.11. The final trade for Tuesday was reported at $33.06.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD): Summit Insights downgraded the chip giant to Hold from Buy. The stock has traded in a wide 52-week range of $48.42 to $99.23 and has a $102.50 consensus price objective. The final Tuesday trade was at $85.21 a share. The stock was up almost 5% in Wednesday’s premarket after the company reported solid results Tuesday in which its data center revenue doubled.

Alarm.com Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ALRM): Zacks named this as the Bear of the Day stock. The firm said that the high valuation here is sounding the alarm. Shares last closed at $95.23 and have a consensus price target of $107.50.

Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE: CGC): BofA Securities resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $45 price target. No consensus target for the cannabis giant was available, and the shares closed Tuesday at $26.91.

CapStar Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR): The Keefe Bruyette upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform included a price target hike to $22. The consensus target is $20.60, and the shares ended trading at $18.52 on Tuesday.

Century Casinos Inc. (NASDAQ: CNTY): B. Riley Securities started coverage with a Buy rating and an $18 price target. The posted consensus target is $15, and the stock was last seen trading at $11.22, up almost 4% on Tuesday.

Chubb Ltd. (NYSE: CB): Credit Suisse resumed coverage of the insurance leader with an Outperform rating and a $175 price target. That compares with the higher consensus target of $183.14 and Tuesdays’ final print of $166.60.

Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC): Evercore ISI upgraded the shares to Outperform from In Line with a $75 price target. That compares with a slightly higher $78.89 consensus target for the independent energy leader and Tuesday’s last trade of $63.63.

Credit Suisse Group A.G. (NYSE: CS): UBS upgraded shares of the Swiss bank to Buy from Neutral. The 52-week trading range is $7.33 to $14.95, and the consensus price target is $9.81. The stock closed Tuesday at $10.61, which was up over 3% on the day.

Cronos Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CRON): BofA securities resumed coverage with an Underperform rating and a $7.50 target. No consensus target was available, and the stock closed Tuesday at $8.21.

Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN): Evercore ISI raised the shares to Outperform from In Line with a $28 price target. The consensus price objective is up at $30.67, and the stock closed Tuesday at $22.14.

DTE Energy Co. (NYSE: DTE): While UBS downgraded the utility to Neutral from Buy, the firm raised the price target to $144. The consensus target is $142.81, and the stock was last seen on Tuesday at $136.25.

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL): JPMorgan upgraded it to Neutral from Underweight and has a $220 price target. The consensus target is $224.79. The last trade for Tuesday hit the tape at $218.41. That was down almost 4% for the day.

Fastly Inc. (NYSE: FSLY): Raymond James downgraded the tech high flyer to Market Perform from Outperform. The shares have traded in a very wide 52-week range of $20.57 to $136.50 and have a consensus price objective of $85.40. The final Tuesday trade came in at $70.33. The shares were down almost 4% in the premarket.

GSX Techedu Inc. (NYSE: GSX): Though Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to Buy from Sell, it also lowered the price target to $60. The higher consensus target is $70, and Tuesday’s final print was $31.99. The shares were up over 6% in premarket action.
Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. (NYSE: HLX): The BofA Securities downgrade to Neutral from Buy came with the price target lowered to $5. The consensus target is $5.91, and the stock closed most recently at $4.19.

Lemonade Inc. (NASDAQ: LMND): Credit Suisse resumed coverage with an Underperform rating and a $56 price target. The consensus price objective is much higher at $92.29, and the last Tuesday trade was reported at $97.17.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (NYSE: MMC): Piper Sandler upgrades it to Overweight from Neutral and raised the price target to $145. That is way above the $128.21 consensus target. Tuesday’s final trade of $132.21 was up close to 4% for the day. The insurance and consulting giant posted stellar first-quarter results Tuesday.

Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT): This was selected as Bull of the Day at Zacks. The analyst suggested that it is not too late for investors to join this turnaround story. Shares closed most recently at $21.80 and have a consensus price target of $24.24.

Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL): Cowen raised its Neutral rating to Outperform and hiked the target price to $152. The consensus target is just $125.91, below Tuesday’s close at $128.85 a share.

ViacomCBS Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAC): Citigroup upgraded the broadcast and programming giant to Buy from Hold but lowered the price target to $56. The $53.81 consensus target also is well above Tuesday’s last trade of $42.81.

Long-term growth and income investors sensing an overbought and very rich market can still buy some great total return vehicles in five analyst stock picks, as almost all the positive metrics that have driven solid growth remain in place.

Note that, even with short interest at a multiyear low overall, short sellers are still piling on Tesla and other EV makers, as well as tech giants Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft.

Find out which analyst sees Airbnb getting a huge boost in the reopening trade.

Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Airbnb, Charles Schwab, DraftKings, JPMorgan, Splunk, Synaptics, Uber Technologies and United Parcel Service. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Coinbase, Caesars, DoorDash, Lyft, Tesla and more.

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