The futures were lower across the board Wednesday, after a torrid risk-off rebound Tuesday that faded somewhat into the close. All the major indexes closed up over 1%, with the exception of the Dow Jones industrials, which finished just shy of that mark. Despite the comeback from Monday’s furious selling, these kinds of wild swings (and Wednesday looks like more of the same), which have been happening over the past month, can often be the precursors of some serious trouble.

Top strategists across Wall Street remain focused on continued rising interest rates, Federal Reserve tapering due to begin in a month, big increases in energy costs, ongoing supply chain issues and stagflation worries, and Wall Street analysts are not nearly as positive on the upcoming earnings seasons as they were for the second quarter. Toss in the debt ceiling and China worries, and the cauldron continues to simmer.

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, October 6, 2021.

Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AEM): RBC Capital Markets upgraded the gold miner to Outperform from Sector Perform but lowered its target price to $63 from $68. The consensus target is a much higher $104.38. The stock was last seen Tuesday at $52.61.

AmBev S.A. (NYSE: ABEV): Barclays upgraded the shares to Overweight from Equal Weight but dropped the target price to $3.50 from $4.00. The consensus target is $3.48. The stock closed Tuesday at $2.73.

American Airlines Group Inc. (NYSE: AAL): Goldman Sachs lowered its Neutral rating to Sell and reduced the price target to $18 from $19. The consensus target is $19.47. The final trade on Tuesday was at $21.47 a share.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY): Zacks has named this as its Bear of the Day stock, citing that the specialty retailer recently posted rough second-quarter results and issued lower-than-projected guidance in the face of supply chain worries and more. Shares last closed at $15.03, and the consensus price target is $19.20.

CDW Corp. (NASDAQ: CDW): Morgan Stanley’s downgrade to Equal Weight from Overweight included a target price cut to $196 from $208. The consensus target is $203.50. The last trade for Tuesday was posted at $184.13.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG): Loop Capital started shares of the wildly popular Mexican food restaurant with a Hold rating and an $1,800 price target. That compares with the $1,915.21 consensus target and Tuesday’s closing print of $1,830.12.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF): While Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral, it also dropped the price objective to $24 from $26. The consensus target is $29.59. Tuesday’s close was at $20.76, which was up almost 5% on the day.

Commercial Metals Co. (NYSE: CMC): The Goldman Sachs upgrade of this steel company to Neutral from Sell included a price target hike to $33 from $31. The consensus target is $34. The shares closed Tuesday at $31.76.

Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ): Loop Capital started coverage of the popular pizza chain with a Buy rating and a $475 price target. The consensus price objective is $537.58. The last trade for Tuesday was at $474.62 per share.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX): Exane BNBP Paribas upgraded the mining giant to Outperform from Neutral and has a $39.50 price target. The consensus target is $42.79. The last trade for Tuesday came in at $32.20.

Gogo Inc. (NASDAQ: GOGO): Morgan Stanley downgraded the shares to Underweight from Equal Weight but lifted the target price to $14 from $13. The $16.25 consensus target is less than Tuesday’s closing price of $17.15 per share.

Hyatt Hotels Corp. (NYSE: H): Loop Capital initiated coverage of the venerable hotel chain with a Hold rating and an $80 price target. The consensus target is $81.85. Tuesday’s last trade was posted at $82.09.

JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU): Goldman Sachs downgraded the carrier to Neutral from Buy and trimmed the $20 target price to $17. The consensus target is $20.07. The final trade on Tuesday hit the tape at $16.12.

Noodles & Co. (NASDAQ: NDLS): Stephens started coverage with an Overweight rating and an $18 price target. The consensus price objective is $15.08. Tuesday’s closing share price was $12.28.
Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX): Piper Sandler upgraded the refining giant to Overweight from Neutral and raised the $85 price target to $87. The consensus target is $88.06. The stock closed on Tuesday at $77.35.

Square Inc. (NASDAQ: SQ): This was selected as Bull of the Day at Zacks. The analyst pointed out that the recent underperformance presents a relatively enticing buying opportunity, especially with a big acquisition set to close in early 2022. Shares closed most recently at $235.98, and the consensus price target was $300.93, which would be a 52-week high.

Trupanion Inc. (NASDAQ: TRUP): Piper Sandler started coverage with an Overweight rating and a $110 price target. The consensus target is $125.20. The stock closed at $78.77 on Tuesday.

U.S. Steel Corp. (NYSE: X): Goldman Sachs downgraded the venerable steel company to Sell from Neutral, and it also slashed the target price to $21 from $34. The consensus target is set at $34.43. Tuesday’s closing trade came in at $22.44.

VICI Properties Inc. (NASDAQ: VICI): KeyBanc Capital Markets raised its Sector Weight rating to Overweight with a $33 price target. The consensus target is $36.70. The final trade for Tuesday was reported at $28.86 a share.

Vonage Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: VG): Oppenheimer downgraded the stock to Perform from Outperform. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $10.12 to $16.65 and have a $17.36 consensus price target. Tuesday’s close was at $16.14.

Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN): Loop Capital started the meme stock with a Buy rating and a $31 price target. The consensus target is $26.72, and the final trade for Tuesday was posted at $22.04 per share.

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.

Meme stock movers on Tuesday included Lordstown Motors and Tilray.

Tuesday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included Albertsons, Colgate-Palmolive, CyberArk Software, Deckers Outdoor, Dow, Lordstown Motors, Nike, Procter & Gamble and Tesla. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Este Lauder, Facebook, Honda Motor, Stitch Fix and more.

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