The futures were mixed Wednesday, following a strong trading day Tuesday in which both the Dow Jones industrials and the S&P 500 posted fresh all-time highs. Again we saw some index divergence as the Nasdaq closed down. The transports, which are considered a strong economic indicator, had a big day, closing up almost 2%. Once again, interest rates crept higher as bond traders were selling government securities across the curve. The massive infrastructure bill passed the Senate, but it looks like the path to additional fiscal stimulus is complicated by a wide gap between progressives and the moderates in the Democrat party.

Despite worries and the potential for a “taper tantrum” like we saw in 2013, the Federal Reserve is vowing to keep interest rates contained. This comes as some of the Fed governors and media pundits are hinting that a tapering of the $120 billion per month purchase of government and mortgage debt known as quantitative easing could be in the works sooner rather than later.

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.

These are the top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen on Wednesday, August 11, 2021.

Albertsons Companies Inc. (NYSE: ACI): Barclays raised shares of the supermarket giant to Equal Weight from Underweight and has a $27 price target. The consensus target is lower at $21.88. The last trade Tuesday came in at $29.05, which was up over 17% on the day after the grocer announced a key hiring. Sharon McCollam will become new president and chief financial officer in September.

American Airlines Group Inc. (NYSE: AAL): Redburn initiated coverage with a Buy rating. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $10.63 and $26.09, and it has an $18.85 consensus price target. The final trade for Tuesday hit the tape at $20.94 a share.

Bath & Bodyworks Inc. (NASDAQ: BBWI): Baird raised its Market Perform rating to Outperform with an $85 price target. No consensus target was available. The shares closed on Tuesday at $62.51.

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX): Deutsche Bank upgraded the money management giant to Buy from Hold and hiked the target price to $135 from $103. The consensus price objective is $98.54. The stock closed Tuesday at $113.82.

Centerra Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: CGAU): CIBC upgraded it to Neutral from Sector Underperform. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $.6.75 to $13.72. No consensus price target was available. The last trade for Tuesday came in at $7.25.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF): Morgan Stanley started coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $26 price target. The consensus target is $26.42, and Tuesday’s final trade was reported at $26.02, up over 5% for the day.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL): Redburn started coverage with a Neutral rating. The shares have traded between $27.02 and $52.28 over the past year and have a $56.72 consensus price objective. The stock gained 3% on Tuesday to close at $40.46 per share.

DHT Inc. (NYSE: DHT): Stifel raised its Hold rating to Buy from and lifted the price target to $7 from $6. H.C. Wainwright also upgraded the stock, to Buy from Neutral, and bumped up the price target to $8.00 from $7.50. The consensus target is $7.57. The shares were last seen on Tuesday trading at $5.44.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS): Wells Fargo resumed coverage of the very popular sports and outdoor retailer with an Equal Weight rating and a $108 price target. The posted consensus target is $113.06. The shares closed on Tuesday at $108.23.

Joann Inc. (NASDAQ: JOAN): Loop Capital started coverage of the sewing and arts and crafts retailer with a Buy rating and a $20 price target. The consensus price objective is $19.57. The shares closed at $14.93 on Tuesday.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR): Deutsche Bank raised the private equity giant to Buy from Hold and raised the target price to $75 from $69. That compares with the $67.36 consensus target and Tuesday’s final trade of $65.80.

L3Harris Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LHX): Morgan Stanley downgraded the aerospace and defense giant to Equal Weight from Overweight and has a $238 price target. The consensus target is $242.71, and the stock ended trading on Tuesday at $232.62. As that is near a 52 week high after a good run, this looks like a valuation call.
Medical Properties Trust Inc. (NYSE: MPW): RBC Capital Markets raised the stock to Outperform from Sector Perform and has a $23 price target. The $23.63 consensus target is slightly higher, and Tuesday’s closing print was $19.72 a share.

Nikola Corp. (NASDAQ: NKLA): D.A. Davidson started coverage on the electric vehicle company with a Neutral rating and a $10 price target. The consensus target is up at $18.14. The shares were last seen on Tuesday at $10.40, after pulling back over 5% on the day.

Pubmatic Inc. (NASDAQ: PUBM): Raymond James upgraded the stock to Outperform from Market Perform and has a $43 price target. The consensus target for the digital advertising company is even higher at $48.86. The stock closed Tuesday at $33.77, which was over 7% higher for the day, and the shares tacked on another 7% in premarket action after posting very good second-quarter results.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLK): UBS raised its Neutral rating on the big-data tech giant to Buy, and its price target jumped to $175 from $137. The consensus target is $168.31. The last trade on Tuesday hit the tape at $141.31.

Upstart Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: UPST): Citigroup’s upgrade to Buy from Neutral included a huge boost to the price target, to $205 from $120. The $139.29 consensus is closer to Tuesday’s closing price of $135.68. The stock was up a massive 20% in the premarket after a strong earnings report.

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SPCE): Morgan Stanley downgraded the popular meme stock to Underweight from Equal Weight, and the firm has set a $25 price target. The posted consensus target is higher at $39.20. The shares were last seen Tuesday at $31.33, after tumbling over 11% on the day. The selling continued in the premarket, with the shares down an additional 4% after the company announced that it was raising the ticket price for rides on its spaceplane to $450,000.

With coupons on government securities set to remain close to generational lows for a while, what are balanced growth and income investors to do? Three well-respected business development company stocks pay outsized dividends and offer growth potential for investors with a higher risk tolerance.

Tech stocks appear to be set to keep running higher, and Wedbush has three picks that are looking to outperform the market in the coming months.

Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Akamai Technologies, Apple, Array Technologies, Clorox, Fastly, Fisker, Fiserv and Oracle. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on SmileDirectClub, Squarespace, Victoria’s Secret and more.

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