The futures traded higher Wednesday after a furious snapback rally Tuesday that saw all the major indexes claw back most of the losses from Monday, when the S&P fell the most since May and the Dow Jones industrials were down the most since last October. While some across Wall Street attributed the bounce to short-term oversold conditions, the reality is that there is a host of very bearish technical divergences as we head toward the seasonally weak August to October period.
Despite the remerging COVID-19 concerns, many across Wall Street are also leery of the beginning of the tapering of the quantitative easing program after the clear building of inflationary pressures, despite the fact the Federal Reserve is vowing to keep interest rates contained. That could be one reason 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 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.
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These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday, July 21, 2021.
Allegiant Travel Co. (NASDAQ: ALGT): MKM Partners raised its Neutral rating to Buy with a $230 price target. The consensus price target is much higher at $277.17. The final trade for Tuesday hit the tape at $188.45, which was up almost 8% for the day.
Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM | ADM Price Prediction): Jefferies resumed coverage with a Hold rating and a $55 price target. The consensus target is up at $70.08. The shares closed on Tuesday at $58.03.
Autohome Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHM): Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and has a $50 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $97.99. The shares closed Tuesday at $57.16, which was down almost 4% on the day.
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Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC): Truist Securities raised shares of the independent oil company to Buy from Hold, and the firm has an $80 price target. The consensus target is $82.56. The stock closed at $62.79 on Tuesday.
Cohu Inc. (NASDAQ: COHU): Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a Neutral rating and a $37 price target. That compares with the much higher $59 consensus target and Tuesday’s last trade of $36.18, which was up over 5%.
ContextLogic Inc. (NASDAQ: WISH): BofA Securities downgraded the stock to Neutral from Buy and has a $12 price target. The consensus target is $18. The shares closed Tuesday at $10.14. This company has been a very active meme stock this summer.
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA): Deutsche Bank’s upgrade of the video game giant to Buy from Hold included a price target hike to $175 from $156. The consensus target is $163.18. The shares closed on Tuesday at $141.07.
Fabrinet (NYSE: FN): MKM Partners started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $100 price target. The consensus price objective is $92. The last trade for Tuesday was reported at $92.02 a share.
Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL): Goldman Sachs raised the oilfield services giant from Neutral to Buy with a $26 price target. That compares with a $24.53 consensus target and Tuesday’s closing print of $20.07.
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IAC/InterActiveCorp (NYSE: IAC): BMO Capital Markets raised the stock to Outperform from Market Perform but lowered the price target to $170 from $250. The consensus target is $230.53. The stock closed trading on Tuesday at $134.51 per share.
Janus Henderson Group PLC (NYSE: JHG): Citigroup downgraded the money management giant to Neutral from Buy. Over the past 52 weeks, the shares have traded between $18.80 and $41.13, and they have a consensus price objective of $35.68. The final Tuesday trade came in at $39.51 a share.
Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE: LEVI): Zacks has picked this apparel stock as its Bull of the Day. The analyst said that this iconic denim retailer has proved it has what it takes to grow in any market environment. Shares most recently closed at $27.38 and have a consensus price target of just $34.88.
Raymond James Financial Inc. (NYSE: RJ): Jefferies started coverage of the brokerage firm with a Buy rating and a $150 price target. The consensus price objective is just higher at $155. The last Tuesday trade came in at $127.12.
RealReal Inc. (NASDAQ: REAL): BofA Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $26 price target. The posted consensus target is $29.15. The stock ended Tuesday’s trading at $16.49.
Redfin Corp. (NASDAQ: RDFN): Berenberg started coverage with a Hold rating and a $64 price target. The consensus price objective is $68.73. The stock climbed almost 6% on Tuesday to close at $58.22.
RE/MAX Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: RMAX): Berenberg started coverage of the real estate giant with a Buy rating and a $41 price target. The consensus price objective is $41.25, and Tuesday’s closing price was $33.33 a share.
Sabre Corp. (NASDAQ: SABR): This was the Zacks Bear of the Day stock. The analyst pointed out that COVID-19 is still weighing on this travel technology provider. Shares last closed at $11.30, and the consensus price target is $13.25.
Vimeo Inc. (NASDAQ: VMEO): BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on the shares with a Market Perform rating and a $50 price target. The consensus target is $55.20. The stock closed Tuesday at $44.84, after climbing almost 4% on the day.
Westlake Chemical Corp. (NYSE: WLK): The RBC Capital Markets upgrade to Outperform from Sector Perform included a price target boost to $105 from $104. The consensus target is $105.88, and the stock ended trading on Tuesday at $80.70.
Zillow Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ZG): Berenberg started coverage with a Buy rating and a $156 price target. The consensus price objective is up at $182.61. Shares closed most recently at $108.96 a share.
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With the potential for a sizable correction looming and interest rates at the lowest levels since February, it may be a good idea for investors to consider Dividend Aristocrats that are in sectors poised to do well for the rest of 2021.
Furthermore, CNBC’s Jim Cramer names of earnings season winners, and see what meme stocks were on the move on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Bank of New York Mellon, Cloudflare, Consolidated Edison, Ford, IBM, Incyte, Simon Properties and Skechers. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Apple, Array Technologies, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and more.
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