Alcoa, Comerica, Shell Midstream, Thermo Fisher and More Friday Afternoon Analyst Calls

With the trading day past the halfway mark, the major averages were pulling back despite a strong start to the day. The retail sales report surprised to the upside this morning and many would think that would boost the markets. However, markets turned lower as the day dragged, on which would make this the first down week for these major averages in over a month.

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

For those that might have missed it, 24/7 Wall St. had an earlier round of analyst calls on Friday that included Alibaba, Chewy, LiveNation, Salesforce and Seagate.

Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA | AA Price Prediction): Citigroup upgraded the stock to a Buy rating from Neutral and has a $52 price target. The shares were changing hands at around $34 apiece on Friday, in a 52-week trading range of $10.98 to $44.42.

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Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA): Citigroup resumed coverage with a Buy rating. The stock traded near $68 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $34.46 to $79.86. It has a consensus price target of $78.15.

Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. (NYSE: HLX): The BofA Securities downgrade was to Underperform from Neutral. The stock was changing hands at around $4 a share on Friday, in a 52-week range of $2.20 to $6.76.

Medallia Inc. (NYSE: MDLA): Stifel resumed coverage with a Buy rating and a $40 price target. The stock traded near $31 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $23.58 to $48.28. It has a consensus price target of $42.36.

Renewable Energy Group Inc. (NASDAQ: REGI): Raymond James initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $72 price target. The stock was changing hands around $64 a share on Friday, in a 52-week range of $25.01 to $117.00.

Shell Midstream Partners L.P. (NYSE: SHLX): Credit Suisse resumed coverage with an Underperform rating and a $13 price target. The stock traded near $14 on Friday, in a 52-week range of $8.17 to $16.50. It has a consensus price target of $14.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO): Benchmark initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $580 price target. The stock was changing hands around $518 a share on Friday, in a 52-week range of $390.71 to $532.57.

Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W): Exane BNP Paribas initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and a $400 price target. It traded near $284 a share on Friday, in a 52-week range of $209.12 to $369.00. The consensus price target is $350.23.

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While these five BofA Securities defensive stock picks may be far from the go-go momentum and mega-tech giants, they all pay dependable dividends and can soften the blow if we see a big sell-off over the next six weeks to three months.

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