The futures were down across the board on Monday as we began another trading week that could be dominated by low volume as school in many parts of the country is back in session and vacations are coming to a close. Many are pointing to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover as a negative this morning. Last week’s action was dominated by all of the major indexes and the transports hitting all-time highs. The big data item Friday was the report that the University of Michigan’s gauge of consumer sentiment plunged to a preliminary August reading of 70.2 from a final July reading of 81.2. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had expected an August reading of 81.3. It is the lowest reading since December of 2011, and there have only been six bigger drops in the index in survey history.

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 Monday, August 16, 2021.

Angi Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI): Zacks has named this stock as its Bear of the Day. The analyst wonders whether this home-improvement website can overcome a difficult and expensive rebrand. Shares last closed at $42.08, and the consensus price target is $56.22.

Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NYSE: ADP): Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to Neutral from Outperform and has a $215 price target. The consensus price target is $211.25. With the stock closing Friday at $215.17 and trading just shy of a 52-week high, this probably is a valuation call.

AvePoint Inc. (NASDAQ: AVPT): Cowen started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $14.50 price target. The consensus price objective is $15.67, and Friday’s closing print was reported at $9.68.

CarLotz Inc. (NASDAQ: LOTZ): Deutsche Bank started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $7 price target. The consensus target is up at $16. The stock was last seen Friday at $3.91, which was down almost 5% for the day.

Children’s Place Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCE): B. Riley Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and boosted the target price to $130 from $92. The consensus target is lower at $110.10. Friday’s closing trade was reported at $102.75.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG): Though Raymond James downgraded the popular restaurant chain to Outperform from Strong Buy, it raised the price target to $2,025 from $1,800. The last trade on Friday came in at $1887.51.

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL): Evercore ISI lowered the stock from Outperform to In Line with a $225 price target. The consensus price objective is $231.53. The final trade on Friday was reported at $221.58.

Holley Inc. (NYSE: HLLY): Raymond James started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $13 price target. The consensus price objective is $15.33. The final trade on Friday came in at $11.20.

Honest Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: HNST): Guggenheim raised shares of the Jessica Alba-led company to Buy from Neutral and has a $14 price target. Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and dropped its price target to $11 from $17.50. The consensus target is $18.75. Friday’s final trade came in at $10.07.

Invitation Homes Inc. (NYSE: INVH): Berenberg downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $26.35 to $41.20 and have a $43.79 consensus price target. The stock closed at $39.62 on Friday.

One Stop Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: OSS): Benchmark resumed coverage with a Buy rating and an $8 price target. The posted consensus target is $7.80. The stock closed Friday at $5.51 a share, which was down almost 7% for the day.

PG&E Corp. (NYSE: PCG): RBC Capital Markets raised the west coast utility to Outperform from Sector Perform and has a $14 price target. The consensus target is $14.86. The shares were last seen on Friday at $9.12

Revolve Group Inc. (NYSE: RVLV): Zacks says that this retail stock is in a great position to deliver impressive returns over the long term, so it was named as the Bull of the Day. Its shares most recently closed at $60.09 and have a consensus price target of $70.94.
Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX): UBS raised the hard disk drive leader’s stock to Buy from Neutral and also lifted the target price to $105 from $83. That compares with the $104 consensus and Friday’s closing print of $90.34.

Sonos Inc. (NASDAQ: SONO): Jefferies upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and boosted the price objective to $50 from $43. The consensus target is $45.29. The final trade on Friday was reported at $38.14. The shares are up almost 10% in Monday’s premarket trading because late Friday, after the market closed, a ruling by the U.S. International Trade Commission Judge showed that tech giant Alphabet infringed on five patents owned by Sonos.

South State Corp. (NYSE: SSB): Stephens lowered the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and cut the price target to $67 from $92. The consensus target is $85.86. The shares closed Friday at $71.72.

VTEX (NASDAQ: VTEX): Goldman Sachs started coverage with a Neutral rating and a $25 price target. KeyBanc Capital Markets began its coverage with an Overweight rating and a $35 price target. The stock had a recent initial public offering, so the consensus target has not been set. Since the shares priced, they have traded between $21.25 and $33.36, and the stock closed on Friday at $29.28.

Wheels Up Experience Inc. (NYSE: UP): BTIG Research started coverage with a Buy rating and a $13 price target. The consensus target is $12.50. The stock retreated almost 4% on Friday to close at $8.44.

WM Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MAPS): JMP Securities began coverage with a Market Outperform rating and a $21 price target. No consensus price objective was available. The stock closed Friday at $13.39, down almost 4% on the day.

XL Fleet Corp. (NYSE: XL): Canaccord Genuity downgraded to shares from Buy to Hold with a $6 price target. The consensus target is $7.50. The stock was last seen on Friday at $6.12, which was down almost 14% after the company reported disappointing earnings.

Fortunes were made on GameStop and a host of other meme stocks, and the question now is who is next. Five stocks could very well fit the bill, and they all have Buy ratings from Wall Street analysts.

Friday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Activision Blizzard, Bilibili, Carrier Global, Cimarex Energy, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Palantir Technologies and Rackspace Technology. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Airbnb, Baidu, Disney, DoorDash and more.

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