Accenture, Carvana, Five Below, Plug Power and More Wednesday Afternoon Analyst Research Calls

Stocks are mixed halfway through the Wednesday trading session as investors considered conflicting comments from Federal Reserve officials recently regarding continued loose monetary policy. While some like Chairman Jay Powell maintain that inflation is “transitory” and the current policy will remain in effect until the economy improves, others like Jim Bullard and Robert Kaplan stress that the Fed needs to be more attuned to current inflation trends. Either way, it’s a pretty good bet that the tapering process for the $120 billion of securities being bought each month will begin sooner rather than later.

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing some big analyst calls seen on Wednesday. We have included the latest analyst call on each stock, as well as recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts.

With major Wall Street firms still warning of the potential for impending 5%-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 balance of the second quarter and the rest of 2021.

Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN) Exane BNP Paribas raised the company to Outperform from Neutral with a $335 price target. That compares with the Wall Street consensus target of $301.36. The shares have traded between $200.50 and $2904.50 over the last 52 weeks.

Carvana Inc. (NASDAQ: CVNA) JPMorgan downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight and has a $325 price target. The consensus price objective is posted just lower at $323.48. The stock has traded between $110.06. and $323.09 over the last year.

Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVE) R5 Capital started the very popular retailer with a Buy rating and a $251 price target. The consensus target on Wall Street is posted lower at $239.06. The stock has traded between $96.61 and $205.28 over the last year.

Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE: HP) Evercore ISI raised the oil drilling services giant to Outperform from In Line and raised the price target on the shares to $42. The consensus target is posted much lower at $27.75. The stock has traded between $1.27 and $36.26 over the last year.

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ: HBAN) Raymond James upgraded the stock to Strong Buy from Outperform with an $18 price target. That is versus a $17.36 consensus. Over the last year, the shares have traded between $8.01 and $16.91.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE) Goldman Sachs moved the stock to the firm’s prestigious Conviction List of top stocks to Buy. The Wall Street consensus target for the company is posted at $133.56. The 52-week trading range for the stock is $90.01 to $121.97.

Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE: KGC) Credit Suisse raised the gold miner to Outperform from Neutral and raised the price target to $8. That is versus the higher $10.38 consensus target on Wall Street. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $6.10 to $10.32.

Monday.com Ltd. (NASDAQ: MNDY) Berenberg started the stock with a Buy rating and a $280 price target. The consensus target was not available as the company was a recent very successful initial public offering. The stock has traded between $155.01 and $237.50 since the deal was priced.

Parker-Hanifan, Inc. (NYSE: PH) KeyBanc Capital Markets upgraded the shares to Overweight from Sector Weight and have set a $350 price target. The consensus target is posted just higher at $358.29. The stock has traded between $170.30 and $324.68 over the last year.

Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTEN) Evercore ISI raised the shares to Outperform from In Line and raised the price target to $12. The consensus target is posted lower at $8.39. The 52 week trading range for the shares is $2.38 to $11.27.

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG) Canaccord Genuity downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy and lowered the firm’s price target to $31. That is versus the much higher $47.03 consensus price objective across Wall Street. The 52-week trading range is $6.62 to $75.49.

RPM International, Inc. (NYSE: RPM) JPMorgan downgraded the shares to Underweight from Neutral and have a $90 price target. That is versus the higher $99.83 consensus across Wall Street. Over the last year, the shares have traded between $71.44 and $99.30.

TechTarget, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTGT) Deutsche Bank initiated coverage of the company with a Buy rating and has an $80 price target. That is versus the higher $95.63 consensus. The shares have traded between $28.67 and $101.12 over the last year.

United Rental, Inc. (NYSE: URI) Citigroup raised the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $350 price objective. That is versus an inline Wall Street consensus target of $350.28. Over the last year the company has traded between $139.10 and $354.60.