The futures were higher Friday, after a topsy-turvy trading week that saw some big up and down days. Thursday’s big gains came after the kick-the-can down the road debt ceiling agreement was forged in Congress. We will be seeing the sequel in December, when the whole political drama will start over. The September nonfarm payrolls were once again somewhat disappointing, and all eyes on Wall Street will be focused squarely on the third-quarter earnings results starting next week.

Top strategists across Wall Street remain focused on rising interest rates, Federal Reserve tapering due to begin soon, big increases in energy costs, ongoing supply chain issues and stagflation worries, and 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 Friday, October 8, 2021.

Allogene Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ALLO): Goldman Sachs slashed its $71 target price to $20 while downgrading the stock to Neutral from Buy. The consensus target is $47.73, and that is sure to plunge as well. The stock closed on Thursday at $24.38 but was down almost 38% in the premarket after the FDA halted the company’s main clinical trial.

Cable One Inc. (NASDAQ: CABO): Wells Fargo’s downgrade to Equal Weight from Overweight included a price target cut to $2,100 from $2,400. The consensus target is $2,203.71, and Thursday’s closing share price was $1834.31.

Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: CZR): Stifel raised the price target on the gaming giant to $138 from $130 while keeping a Buy rating on the stock. The consensus target is $128.33. The stock closed on Thursday at $116.15.

Carrier Global Corp. (NYSE: CARR): Wells Fargo started coverage with an Equal Weight rating and a $51 price target. The consensus target is $59.58. Thursday’s final trade was reported at $53.35.

Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR): Wells Fargo downgraded shares of the communications and cable giant to Underweight from Overweight and reduced the target price to $665 from $848. The consensus target is up at $826.72. The stock was last seen on Thursday trading at $741.95.

Conagra Brands Inc. (NYSE: CAG): JPMorgan downgraded the shares to Neutral from Overweight and has a $38 price target. The consensus target is $36.50. The stock closed on Thursday at $34.22.

Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW): Deutsche Bank started coverage of the optical giant with a Buy rating and a $45 price target. The consensus target is $48.45. The shares closed at $36.94 on Thursday.

Denny’s Corp. (NASDAQ: DENN): Oppenheimer started coverage of the ubiquitous restaurant chain with a Hold rating and a $17 price target. The consensus price objective is higher at $19.13. The stock closed on Thursday at $16.40.

Equinox Gold Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN: EQX): Zacks selected this Canadian gold miner as its Bear of the Day stock. The analyst pointed out that gold found support at its March double-bottom lows near $1,675, but the miners have stayed underwater. Shares last closed at $7.33, and the consensus price target is $10.00.

Fastenal Co. (NASDAQ: FAST): Wells Fargo’s downgrade to Underweight from Equal Weight included a price target cut from $50 to $45. The consensus target is up at $52.78. The stock closed trading on Thursday at $52.72.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE): Wells Fargo started coverage of the legacy industrial leader with an Equal Weight rating and a $107 target price. The consensus is $119.48. The shares closed Thursday at $105.51.

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD): Loop Capital lowered its Buy rating on the do-it-yourself retail leader to Hold, and it cut the $370 target price to $325. The consensus target is $346, and Thursday’s closing print was $337.48.

Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE: HRL): JPMorgan raised the consumer staples giant’s stock to Neutral from Underweight and has a $42 price target. The consensus target $45.56. The final trade for Thursday was reported at $41.34.

Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW): Loop Capital downgraded the retail giant from Buy to Hold with a $220 price target. The consensus target for is $232.10. The stock closed Thursday at $207.90 a share.
Mesa Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: MLAB): This scientific instruments maker was named as the Bull of the Day stock at Zacks, which said that key M&A boosts sales and earnings, as well as opens the path to new business with the Clinical Genomics Division. Shares most recently closed at $309.37 and have a consensus price target of $320.00.

Northern Trust Corp. (NASDAQ: NTRS): UBS raised its Neutral rating on the bank to Buy from and boosted the target price to $125 from $112. The consensus target is $121.21. The final trade on Thursday was reported at $112.95.

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG): Barclays upgraded the shares to Equal Weight from Underweight and has a $27 price target. The consensus target is much higher at $42.51. The stock closed trading on Thursday at $26.09, which was up over 6% for the day.

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI): JPMorgan downgraded the satellite radio leader to Neutral from Overweight and trimmed the price target to $7 from $8. The consensus target is $7.60. The final trade for Thursday was at $6.29 a share.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM): Wells Fargo started coverage of the industrial giant with an Equal Weight rating and a $179 price target. The consensus target is $195.01. The stock closed on Thursday at $177.80.

Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP): JPMorgan upgraded the transportation giant to Overweight from Neutral and lifted the target price to $247 from $234. The $244.30 consensus target also compares to Thursday’s closing price of $211.88 per share.

Five Dividend Aristocrat stocks have reasonable upside to the Wall Street targets and, of course, they pay very dependable dividends. With even moderate appreciation in the share prices of the top companies, investors should be looking at double-digit total return potential.

Note that four copper-mining stocks pay outstanding dividends now.

Thursday’s early top analyst upgrades and downgrades included AT&T, Alibaba, Ally Financial, BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Box, Citrix Systems, Nio, Schlumberger and TJX Companies. Analyst calls seen later in the day were on Amazon.com, Bank of America, Walt Disney and more.

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