The futures were trading mixed on Wednesday, after a brutal Tuesday when all the major indexes and the transports were absolutely hammered, following five straight record closes for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrials. Once again, growth concerns spurred by weaker-than-expected retail sales and a belief that the market is due for a pullback were cited as reasons for the broad sell-off. We have noted recently that there has not been a 5% correction in the stock market for almost a year, which is highly unusual. The 10-year and 30-year Treasury bonds continue to be bid higher and bought for safety as yields continue to plunge.

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 18, 2021.

ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ: ACVA): Piper Sandler raised the stock to Overweight from Neutral but lowered the target price to $26 from $30. The consensus target is higher at $36. The last trade for Tuesday came in at $20.56.

Amcor PLC (NYSE: AMCR): Goldman Sachs downgraded the shares to Sell from Neutral and also dropped the price target to $11.50 from $12.50. The consensus target is $12.48. The final trade for Tuesday was reported at $12.10.

Andersons Inc. (NASDAQ: ANDE): Seaport Global Securities upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and has a $45 price target. The consensus target is just $29.67. The last trade for Tuesday was posted at $29.46, which was up over 3% for the day. The shares followed through in the premarket, tacking on an additional 5% gain.

BlackBerry Ltd. (NYSE: BB): Canaccord Genuity upgraded the meme stock favorite from Sell to Hold with a $10 price target. The consensus target is $8.36. The shares closed on Tuesday at $9.67. The stock got some traction in the premarket, as it was up almost 3%.

Chindata Group Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: CD): JPMorgan started coverage with an Overweight rating and an $18 price target. The consensus target is $13.67. The stock fell almost 7% on Tuesday to close at $10.25.

Core & Main Inc. (NYSE: CNM): Citigroup started coverage with a Buy rating and a $31 price target. Due to the recent initial public offering, no consensus was available yet. The shares have traded between $20.00 and $27.85 so far. The last trade for Tuesday hit the tape at $26.15, which was down just over 5% on the day.

Cree Inc. (NYSE: CREE): Goldman Sachs lowered its price target to $92 from $106 while keeping a Neutral rating. The posted consensus target is $117.92. The last trade for Tuesday was at $86.25. The shares were down almost 6% in premarket action, after Cree reported a quarterly loss but topped revenue estimates.

Four Corners Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: FCPT): Raymond James downgraded the stock to Outperform from Strong Buy and lowered the price target to $30 from $34. The consensus price objective is $33.20. The last trade for Tuesday came in at $27.21.

GXO Logistics Inc. (NYSE: GXO): Loop Capital started coverage with a Buy rating and a $90 target. The consensus target is down at $78.67. The last trade on Tuesday came in at $74.43, after a retreat of almost 6% for the day.

Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN): Goldman Sachs resumed coverage with a Buy rating and an $18 price target. That compares with a $17.02 consensus target and Tuesday’s $14.81 close.

NeuroPace Inc. (NASDAQ: NPCE): Baird started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $26 price target. The consensus target is $28, and the last trade for Tuesday was reported at $19.85

Outset Medical Inc. (NYSE: OM): Cowen started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $70 price target. That compares with the lower consensus target of $61.83 and Tuesday’s final print of $38.57.

REE Automotive Ltd. (NYSE: REE): BTIG Research began coverage with a Buy rating and a $20 price target. No consensus target was available. The shares were last seen on Tuesday trading at $9.54.

Shenandoah Telecommunications Co. (NASDAQ: SHEN): B. Riley Securities upgraded the shares to Buy from Neutral and raised the target price to $41 from $34. The consensus target is $39.50. The last trade Tuesday was reported at $29.24.
Sonos Inc. (NASDAQ: SONO): Zacks says that big earnings and patent news have turned investors bullish, so it was named as its Bull of the Day stock. Its shares most recently closed at $38.54 and have a consensus price target of $45.29.

STORE Capital Corp (NASDAQ: STOR): Raymond James downgraded the shares to Perform from Market Perform. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $24.70 and $37.13, and it has a $37.93 consensus price target. The final Tuesday trade came in at $35.69.

Tencent Music Entertainment Group (NYSE: TME): Goldman Sachs lowered the price target on the shares to $8.65 while keeping a Neutral rating. The consensus target is $13.63. On Tuesday, the company reported revenue that grew at its slowest pace since 2019, and shares tumbled over 12% to end at $7.82.

Veoneer Inc. (NYSE: VNE): Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to Neutral from Underweight and lifted the price target to $37 from $17. The consensus target price is $29.40. The stock closed at $36.64 on Tuesday.

ViacomCBS Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAC): Wells Fargo raised shares of the broadcasting and programming giant to Overweight from Equal Weight and boosted the target price to $50 from $45. The consensus target is $51.43. The last trade Tuesday hit the tape at $39.03. The stock was up over 3% in premarket trading.

Vroom Inc. (NASDAQ: VRM): Piper Sandler downgraded the shares to Neutral from Buy and cut the price target to $30 from $54. The consensus target is $50.73. The stock closed on Tuesday at $27.29, after pulling back over 6% for the day.

Wendy’s Co. (NYSE: WEN): Oppenheimer raised the popular fast-food restaurant chain to Outperform from Perform and has a $29 price target. That compares to the $26.98 consensus price objective and Tuesday’s last trade at $23.65 a share.

Investors worried about a big market correction may want to move to safe stocks that pay dividends. Goldman Sachs is very positive on five high-dividend-paying real estate investment trusts, which held up well in Tuesday’s sell-off.

See what stocks the spouse of Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been buying. Also see how Tilray is breathing life into pot stocks.

Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Allstate, ADP, Baker Hughes, Coupa Software, Hyatt Hotels, Lemonade, Robinhood Markets and Suncor Energy. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Lululemon Athletica, Progressive, Rackspace Technology, Tesla and more.

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