Wednesday's Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Alcoa, Caesars, Chevron, DraftKings, Lucid, SoFi, Wynn Resorts and More

Investing

Published: September 15, 2021 8:53 am

Last Updated: September 15, 2021 9:02 am

The futures were mixed Wednesday, after Tuesday’s trading session mirrored somewhat the action on Monday. Across Wall Street, more firms are expecting a correction before the end of the year. Julian Emanuel from BTIG Research suggests a 10% to 20% sell-off could be in the cards, while Stifel’s well-respected equity strategist Barry Bannister remains positioned defensively and points to the potential for a 10% to 15% sell-off before the end of the year.

While traders initially welcomed the news Tuesday that consumer prices cooled off in August, they still rose a staggering 5.3% from a year before as supplies and labor continued to drive up prices. Those that have been touting the fact that the higher inflation trends are “transitory” will point to this print as some proof. The fact of the matter is that, across the board, prices have trended higher. Whether it is in the grocery store, at the gas pump or a host of other items, Americans are paying far more this year than last year.

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, September 15, 2021.

Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA): Argus raised the aluminum giant’s stock to Buy from Hold and has a $58 price target. The consensus target is $49.94. The stock closed trading on Tuesday at $48.00.

Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: CZR): Wells Fargo started coverage of the gaming leader with an Overweight rating and a $137 price target. The lower $127.36 consensus price objective is closer to Tuesday’s closing print of $103.07.

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Cazoo Group Ltd. (NYSE: CZOO): Citigroup started coverage with a Buy rating and an $11.80 price target. No consensus target was available. The shares closed on Tuesday at $9.00.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX): JPMorgan downgraded the integrated energy behemoth to Neutral from Overweight and dropped the price target to $111 from $128. The consensus target is $122.73. The last trade for Wednesday hit the tape at $96.20.

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG): Wells Fargo started coverage of the popular fantasy football betting site with an Overweight rating and a $73 price target. The consensus target is $71.15. The shares were last seen trading on Tuesday at $59.05.

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE: KNX): Cowen raised in Market Perform rating on the trucking company’s shares to Outperform and also lifted the target price $62 from $59. The consensus target is $60.24. Tuesday’s final trade came in at $51.72.

Lucid Group Inc. (NASDAQ: LCID): BofA Securities started coverage of the electric vehicle challenger with a Buy rating and a $30 price target. No consensus target was available. The shares closed Tuesday at $18.95 but were up almost 3% in Wednesday’s premarket trading.

MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM): Wells Fargo started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $55 price target. The consensus price objective is $47.89. The stock was last seen on Tuesday at $41.41 a share.

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Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC): JPMorgan’s upgrade to Neutral from Underweight included a price target hike to $20 from $15. The consensus price target is $17.46. The stock closed on Tuesday at $18.39.

RumbleON Inc. (NASDAQ: RMBL): Wedbush started coverage with an Outperform rating and a $55 price target. The consensus price objective is higher at $65.50. The shares ended trading on Tuesday at $34.86.

Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SRPT): Guggenheim upgraded the stock to a Buy rating from Neutral. Over the past 52 weeks, the shares have traded between $65.30 and $181.83, and they have a consensus target price of $119.47. Tuesday’s final trade was reported at $80.28.

Sea Ltd. (NYSE: SE): Stifel upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and also boosted the target price to $400 from $325. The consensus target is set at $356.79. The stock closed trading on Tuesday at $333.55.
SoFi Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: SOFI): Mizuho started coverage with a Buy rating and a $28 price target. The consensus target for shares of the new-age financial company is $23.17. The stock was last seen on Tuesday at $14.50, and it was up almost 3% in premarket action.

Sonos Inc. (NASDAQ: SONO): Zacks says that this is “the world’s leading sound experience brand,” with a propensity for innovation in a space that has seen little change over the past couple of decades, so it was named as its Bull of the Day stock. Its shares most recently closed at $36.20 and have a consensus price target of $46.29.

Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN): JPMorgan downgraded it from Neutral to Underweight and lowered the $7 price target to $6. The posted consensus target is $6.40. The stock ended trading at $5.16 on Tuesday.

Surrozen Inc. (NASDAQ: SRZN): Guggenheim started coverage with a Buy rating and a $20 price target. The consensus was not yet available. The stock ended trading on Tuesday at $10.13.

Unisys Corp. (NYSE: UIS): Maxim started coverage with a Buy rating and a $35 price target. The consensus target is higher at $42. The stock closed Tuesday at $23.30.

Werner Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: WERN): Cowen raised the shares to Outperform from Market Perform and also lifted the target price to $56 from $52. That compares with the $53.20 consensus target and Tuesday’s final print of $45.96.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN): Wells Fargo started coverage on the luxury casino properties with an Equal Weight rating and a $112 price target. The consensus target is higher at $124.25. The stock closed trading on Tuesday at $92.25 down almost 11%, and the shares were down an additional 5% in Wednesday’s premarket. Worries about regulation of casinos in Macau appear to be the issue.

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It looks increasingly likely that the Federal Reserve doesn’t start raising interest rates until 2023 or later. Income investors may want to look at utilities now, a somewhat contrarian play, but five utility stocks will hold up well when the long-awaited correction finally comes.

Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Applied Materials, CME, Dollar Tree, Dow, DXC Technology, Garmin, KLA, Lucid and Stryker. More analyst calls were seen later in the day, including on Amazon.com, Darden Restaurants, Deere, Oracle and Palo Alto Networks.

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