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Wednesday Afternoon Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades: Delta Air, Marriot, McDonald’s, Seagate and More

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The broad markets have again changed course as the trading week has pushed onward. Monday saw a large dip, Tuesday the rebound, now a dip yet again. This whipsaw motion for investors seems to be indicative of sentiment, positive one day for perhaps economic policy while negative the next for the very same reason. While the Federal Reserve and Treasury have maintained consistent messaging, it is still unclear as to when the tapering will occur.

24/7 Wall St. is reviewing some big analyst calls seen on Wednesday. We have included the latest call on each stock, as well as a recent trading history and the consensus targets among analysts. Note that analyst calls seen earlier in the day were on American Airlines, Bed Bath & Beyond, Hyatt, Square, U.S. Steel, Wendy’s and more.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. (NASDAQ: CBRL): Loop Capital initiated coverage with a Hold rating and a $140 price target. Shares were trading at around $142 on Wednesday, and the analysts’ consensus target is $149.46.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL): Wolfe Research downgraded the stock to a Peer Perform from Outperform. Shares were trading near $43 on Wednesday, and the consensus price target is $54.44.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT): Loop Capital started with a Hold rating and a $135 price target. Shares were last seen trading around $137. They have a consensus price target of $134.00.

Marriot International Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR): Loop Capital started coverage with a Hold rating and a $150 price target. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $88.92 to $159.98, while the current share price is near $153.

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD): Loop Capital initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $306 price target. The consensus price target is $265.59, and the share price is roughly $243.

Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX): Citigroup lowered its Buy rating to Neutral with a $125 price target. Shares were last seen trading near $116 apiece. The consensus price target is $116.21.

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: STX): Morgan Stanley’s downgrade to Equal Weight from Overweight included a price target cut to $88 from $118. The 52-week trading range is $46.92 to $106.22, and the share price is near $80.


These four top U.S.-based dividend-paying energy stocks look cheap and have some serious upside potential. They make good sense for growth and income investors who want to be cautious in what has turned into a very volatile market.

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